Expect mild showers till Nov 3 as Montha makes landfall in AP

CHENNAI: For the second consecutive day, Chennai and its neighbouring districts continued to experience incessant rainfall due to Cyclone Montha, which disrupted normal life for office-goers and those venturing out for their daily routines.

Though the intensity of rainfall on Tuesday was lower compared to Monday, persistent drizzles caused inconvenience to commuters and residents.

According to the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Ennore recorded the highest rainfall of 13 cm as of 8.30 am on Tuesday, followed by Virinjipuram (Vellore) with 11 cm, Kathivakkam 10 cm, Wimco Nagar 9 cm, and Madhavaram, Manali New Town, Manali, and Medavakkam Junction each receiving 8 cm. By 7.30 pm, rainfall had considerably reduced, with Poonamallee recording only 1 cm while most other stations in the city and nearby districts received negligible amounts.

The RMC said that the landfall process of Cyclone Montha, the first cyclone of this year’s northeast monsoon, commenced around 7.30 pm on Tuesday. The system continued to move north-northwestwards and was expected to cross the Andhra Pradesh coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam near Kakinada within 3-4 hours as a severe cyclonic storm, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 90-100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph.

At 8.40 pm, the RMC reported that the severe cyclonic storm was centerd over the westcentral Bay of Bengal about 90 km south of Kakinada 110 km, east of Machilipatnam (Andhra Pradesh). 210 km southwest of Visakhapatnam and 450 km southwest of Gopalpur (Odisha).

For the next six days, up to November 3, light to moderate rain is likely at isolated places over Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.

The maximum temperature in Chennai is expected to remain around 28–29°C, and the minimum around 24–25°C, with one or two spells of light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning likely in some areas on Wednesday, according to the RMC bulletin.