Chennai, Oct 25 (IANS) A red alert has been issued for Theni, Dindigul and Madurai districts, with the Regional Meteorological Centre forecasting extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places on Sunday as the northeast monsoon remains vigorous over Tamil Nadu.
The three districts could receive more than 20 centimetres of rain at one or two locations, accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning and strong winds.
The warning comes amid widespread rainfall across the state and the strengthening of a weather system over the Bay of Bengal.
An orange alert has also been issued for Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Pudukkottai, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Tiruchi, Karur, the Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Sivaganga districts, besides the Karaikal region.
These areas are likely to experience heavy to very heavy rainfall with thunder and lightning.
The forecast places southern districts under particular scrutiny, while several central, delta, and western districts also face the prospect of intense rainfall.
The alerts indicate that the severity of rain is expected to vary across the affected regions.
According to the weather department’s report, the Nilgiris recorded exceptionally heavy rainfall during the 24 hours ending at 8.30 a.m. on Saturday. Burliar registered the highest rainfall of 25 centimetres, followed by Lower Kotagiri Estate with 20 centimetres and Coonoor with 17 centimetres.
The substantial rainfall in the hill district adds to concerns over the continuing monsoon spell, with further heavy rain forecast for the Nilgiris and neighbouring western districts covered by the orange alert.
Meanwhile, the low-pressure area over the east-central and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal intensified into a well-marked low-pressure area on Saturday and subsequently developed into a depression, the department said.
The system is expected to move west-northwestwards and strengthen into a deep depression on Sunday. It could intensify further into a cyclonic storm over the west-central Bay of Bengal by Monday morning. Thereafter, the weather system is likely to continue moving west-northwestwards and reach the west-central Bay of Bengal off the Andhra Pradesh coast by the morning of October 28.
The forecast describes the system’s expected movement and intensification over the sea. It does not specify a landfall location or time.
With the northeast monsoon active and the Bay of Bengal system gathering strength, the department’s latest forecast points to another spell of intense rain across multiple parts of Tamil Nadu on Sunday.
–IANS
aal/dpb
