Heavy rains predicted till Wednesday in Chennai; schools resume after a week

The experts predict that the rain will continue today and heavy morning spells possible on Wednesday

After almost a week, schools resumed in Chennai on Tuesday but heavy rains started again in many parts of the city.

Earlier, the government decided to shut schools as a precautionary measure.

 Experts predict that the rain will continue today and heavy morning spells are possible on Wednesday as well.

The North East monsoon, which set in on October 27, has been active over Tamil Nadu, with Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Nagapattinam and Cuddalore districts receiving heavy rains since last week.

The state administration said that the North East monsoon in two months usually brings around 79 cm rainfall, but the city and its suburbs have already recorded 56.6 cm in five days.

On Monday, the city recorded only 5 mm of rainfall till 7 p.m. 

S. Balachandran, Director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, said many places in the coastal parts of the state, including Chennai, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Pudukottai would get moderate rainfall on Tuesday. 

Interior places including Vellore, Virudhunagar, Dindigul and Madurai would also get rainfall.

“We expect heavy rainfall (between 7 cm and 11 cm) in a few places in south Tamil Nadu such as Ramanathapuram, Tirunelveli, Theni and Kanyakumari on Tuesday. Chennai too will get a few spells of rain or thundershowers. This may be heavy at times in some areas,” he said.

Schools were reopened after a week but many parents decided not to send the kids to schools after the forecast. They were worried that infection may spread as schools are reopening after a week.

"Just as schools started working in Chennai, #ChennaiRains2017 seem to say Don't forget me. Fresh bands approaching from East, could give more rains to many areas of the city. Heaviest Rains to the South of Chennai," tweeted @ChennaiRains, an independent weather blogging community from Chennai, on Tuesday.

Just as schools started working in Chennai, #ChennaiRains2017 seem to say Dont forget me. Fresh bands approaching from East, could give more rains to many areas of the city. Heaviest Rains to the South of Chennai pic.twitter.com/gnkeuvXQAk

Chennai and suburbs could see a spell or two of heavy rains soon. Lesser chance for places North of PH Road and the radar shows a strong spell of rain headed to ECR/OMR.

Intense rainfall for the past few days has helped Meenambakkam inch closer to its average rainfall for the year. 

It has already received 130 cm so far against its yearly normal of 138 cm.

The weather station in Nungambakkam has registered 116 cm of rainfall so far against its annual normal of 140 cm.

North East monsoon has brought an intense spell of rain from the starting of this month, however, the reservoirs in Chembarambakkam, Poondi, Sholavaram and Red Hills currently have a storage of 3,483 million cubic feet (mcft) against the total capacity of 11,057 mcft. But, this is enough to reduce the water scarcity in the city for now.