Heavy rain forecast till Nov 28; orange alert issued across State

CHENNAI: The Regional Meteorological Center (RMC) on Wednesday said that a low-pressure area is likely to form over the Bay of Bengal in the next 24 hours. An orange warning has been issued across the State predicting very heavy rainfall till November 28.

“The low-pressure area was expected to form on Wednesday, however, there was no development in the circulation. Now, the cyclonic circulation in the South Bay of Bengal extends up to 4.5 km above mean sea level. So a low-pressure area is likely to form during the next 24 hours. It is likely to move further west-northwest towards the coast of Tamil Nadu in the coming days,” said N Puviarasan, director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, RMC.

Ramanathapuram and Pudukotttai are expected to receive heavy to very heavy rain on Thursday and for the next 48 hours, several districts of Tamil Nadu—Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Virudhunagar, Sivaganga and delta districts—might get heavy rains along with thunderstorm, he added.

Meanwhile, weathermen predicted heavy to very heavy rains for Chennai on the weekend.

On November 27 and 28, Chennai, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Ranipet, Tirupattur districts are expected to get heavy to very heavy rains. Salem, Kanniyakumari, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, The Nilgiris, Coimbatore, delta districts and Puducherry might also get heavy rains with thunderstorm.

The RMC cautioned fishermen against venturing into the sea till Sunday as cyclonic storms blow at a speed of 40 kmph to 50 kmph over Kanniyakumari coast, southwest Bay of Bengal, South Tamil Nadu coast, and southern Andhra Pradesh.

On Wednesday, Pamban received the highest rainfall of 26 mm, followed by 22 mm each in Nagapattinam and Adhiramapattinam, 5.5 mm in Ramanathapuram and 3mm in Karaikal.