A change in wind direction from easterly to northerly has mostly cleared the skies over coastal Tamil Nadu southward from Chennai up to Puducherry this morning.

But thundershowers are still not ruled out in these parts. The winds changed pattern in anticipation of the twin low-pressure areas coming in from the Andaman Sea (extreme south-east Bay of Bengal).

RAIN OVER SOUTHERN PARTS

Rain-bearing clouds have migrated to Central and South Tamil Nadu, parts of the Gulf of Mannar and around the southern Indian peninsula, bringing showers to these parts.

A trough extending from the Comorin region (south of Kanyakumari) to the East-Central Arabian Sea across Lakshadweep is the main rain-generating formation this morning.

Topping this is a cyclonic circulation over the South-East Arabian Sea off the South Kerala coast, an India Met Department (IMD) update said this morning.

This combo has been bringing steady showers over the southern parts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu from this morning. It is still raining in Thiruvananthpuram under a heavily overcast sky.

The IMD has forecast heavy rain over South Tamil Nadu and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands for today. Thunderstorms accompanied with lightning are likely over Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep.

SLOW-MOVING 'LOW'

Meanwhile, a slow-moving low-pressure area located over the Malay peninsula and the Andaman Sea last night has mostly shifted base to the South Andaman Sea.

The IMD expects it to move west to Sri Lanka and adjoining South Tamil Nadu and stay put there until the follow-up 'low' takes shape over the Andaman Sea over the next four to five days.

It would likely merge into the new 'low' and the combined entity would then travel north to West-Central Bay (off the Tamil Nadu-Andhra Pradesh coasts) and head further north-northeast.

The likely final destination of this elaborate 'low' is the Odisha or Bengal coasts, bringing moderate to heavy showers over those coasts.

The Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh coast may benefit from passing thundershowers as the 'low' keeps travelling to the north-northeast.