In what is turning out to be record Northeast Monsoon year yesterday saw very heavy rains In Chennai & surrounding areas. On Nov. 16th (Meteorological Day) Chennai got 24.6 cms rains which was the highest in the last decade. Today Chennai could be setting a new record with possibly the rains inching closer to 30 cms by the time the Meteorological Day ends at 8:30 AM today.
If one sees the rainfall data it is quite clear Chennai & Surrounding areas alone have got these massive rains with only Mailam near Villupuram getting 11 cms no other place in Tamil Nadu has got such a heavy rainfall yesterday. A combination localized convergence over Chennai which was aided by the high moisture incursion from the trough resulted in the very heavy rains over Chennai and surrounding areas
Northeast Monsoon Update: With the trough still near Sri Lanka Coastal Tamil Nadu could expect the rains to continue for today as well with possibly few places between Nellore & Pondicherry once again getting heavy rains. Going by the model estimate it appears the worst is past for Chennai though we will have moderate spells of rains continue during the day and possibly heavy spells at times. The land interaction over Sri Lanka could possibly rob the trough of some of its intensity but whether that translates into reduced rains in Chennai we need to wait and watch
