A day after renewed easterly flows across the Bay of Bengal battered Chennai and neighbourhood in a manner that spooked the best of weather models, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the tail of the North-East monsoon might continue to lash parts of Tamil Nadu well into the New Year.
Heavy torrents flooded major parts of Chennai on Thursday, catching even the Chennai weather bloggers, who expected no more than moderate rainfall, napping. Instead, what would unfold was an ‘insane’ or ‘crazy’ spell, that precipitated record high daytime falls of the season at a few places.
More rain forecast
IMD’s short to medium range predictions (numerical weather model) indicate the fresh build-up in the Bay and strengthening of easterly flows at the fag-end of the 2021 North-East monsoon. Like other models elsewhere, it could not pick up the very heavy weather event for Tamil Nadu.
This (Friday) morning, the IMD said that isolated heavy to very rainfall activity may persist over North Coastal Tamil Nadu and adjoining South Coastal Andhra Pradesh during the next three days.
Scattered to fairly widespread rainfall is forecast over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal and adjoining South Andhra Pradesh. It will be isolated heavy over Coastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal on Friday and Saturday; and over South Coastal Andhra Pradesh until the New Ear Day on Saturday.
May target southern belt
The Chennai Met Centre of the IMD predicted thunderstorms with heavy rain at isolated places over Cuddalore, Villupuram and Mayiladuthurai districts, Puducherry and Karaikal on Saturday (tomorrow). Thunderstorms/moderate rain may lash many places over the rest of the Coastal Tamil Nadu districts.
The European Centre for Media-Range Weather Forecasts sees light to moderate rain spreading into the interior of Tamil Nadu and adjoining South Interior Karnataka and Coastal Andhra Pradesh across Chennai, Puducherry, Kaveripattinam, Thanjavur, Rameswaram and along the Western Ghats.
Cold wave over North-West
Meanwhile, over North-West India, prevailing cold wave/severe cold wave conditions may last into the New Year (till Monday, January 3) over some/many parts of Punjab and in isolated parts over Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Rajasthan and over Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh till Sunday.
Dense fog may envelop isolated pockets in the morning hours over Uttar Pradesh during the next five days and over East and North-East India during the next two days.
Fresh western disturbances
The IMD has already forecast that a fresh feeble western disturbance may likely affect parts of the hills of North-West India from the night of New Year Day. It may lead to isolated to scattered rainfall/snowfall over Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh, and Himachal Pradesh from New Year Day (Saturday) to Monday.
This will be followed by a weather-maker intense western disturbance that will influence weather over the hills from January 4 (Tuesday) and the plains from the next day. Fairly widespread rainfall/snowfall is likely for four days from Tuesday.
Isolated heavy falls are likely over Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday and Thursday. Light/moderate scattered to fairly widespread rainfall is likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, North Rajasthan and West Uttar Pradesh Wednesday to Friday. Light isolated rainfall is likely over Madhya Pradesh, South Rajasthan and Gujarat on Thursday and Friday.