Has Northeast Monsoon made onset over Tamil Nadu?
If you are an early bird & have a habit of gazing at the morning skies you would have noticed the skies over the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu completely different today morning compared to the past many months. Nice deep blue skies interspersed with lot of puffy clouds & Cumulonimbus clouds in various stages of development. There is also a freshness in the air which is a welcome change too. You are not alone if you wonder if Northeast Monsoon onset has happened already.
Places like Chennai have the benefit of receiving winds from the East for nearly 6 months in a year which not only brings the rains during Northeast Monsoon season but also a freshness in the air due to dispersing pollution due to the winds from the sea. So we come to the question that started today’s post. Has Northeast Monsoon made onset over Tamil Nadu? No. Northeast Monsoon has not made onset over Tamil Nadu but thanks to an Upper Air Cyclonic Circulation off Tamil Nadu / Sri Lanka Coast the winds have changed from Westerlies to temporary Easterlies. This has created a pseudo Northeast Monsoon like conditions across not only coastal areas but also increased thunderstorms in interior TN benefitting from the wind convergence triggered by the Easterlies penetrating deeper into Peninsular India.
Yesterday while South Tamil Nadu did not get as much rains as weather models estimated but most parts of Tamil Nadu recorded moderate to heavy rains across the state. South coastal areas, particularly Ramanathanpuram district recorded good rains which Villuppuram district recorded good rains in North Tamil Nadu. It might be worth nothing bulk of the rains for Villuppuram happened early in the morning with cloud bands coming in from Northeast almost like a Northeast Monsoon day.
Today once again most parts of Tamil Nadu is likely to get good rains with conditions looking good for Rains to continue for next 3 / 4 days over Tamil Nadu. Just like pre NEM Onset day we may see convective thunderstorms develop about 50 kms away from the coastline from the remnant moisture being pushed from the East, triggering intense thunderstorms in a few places of the state. Similarly with Easterlies penetrating deeper few places in Kerala & West Interior TN will see intense thunderstorm activity today also. Chennai may see light to moderate rains over many places during the early morning hours just like how it would rain during Northeast Monsoon time.