In a freak and unusual weather incident, a depression has formed in the Indian Ocean and is now over Southeast Arabian Sea. The system is currently located 200 km SE of Minicoy In Lakshadweep, 310 km SW of Thiruvananthapuram and 330 km NNE of Male in Maldives.
With this, heavy rains have occurred over many parts of Kerala in the last 24 hours. So much so that Punalur which recorded 61 mm of rainfall, has witnessed double the amount of its monthly mean.
During the last 24 hours from 8:30 am on Tuesday, Palayamkottai recorded 45 mm of rainfall, Kanyakumari 29 mm, Coonoor 11 mm, Kochi 4 mm, Thiruvananthapuram 4 mm, Valparai 5 mm, and Kozhikode 0.8 mm.
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Due to these rains, temperatures have witnessed a significant drop and are settling about 6-7 degrees below the normal levels, even beneath the 30-degree mark resulting in pleasant weather conditions over many parts of Kerala.
Usually, the month of March is a quite one for Kerala and Tamil Nadu. However, southern parts of the regions do get rains either on account of the activation of the ITCZ or due to the smaller systems that move within the ITCZ. However, the rainfall intensity remains between light and moderate.
Currently, this freak incident of the depression being formed has caused such heavy rains over the state of Kerala. The damaging potential increases due to the associated wind speed.
The system will now move slightly faster and more towards north northwest gaining latitude. Thereafter, the weather system will once again move parallel to the Indian coast and even come closer at times. Due to its fast movement in the cool waters, further intensification is not likely.
The threat of heavy rains and strong winds remains for the state of Kerala for another 24 hours as the peripheral clouding is still behind the centre which will gradually shift. Major cities of Kochi, Kozhikode, Kottayam, Thiruvananthuram, Punalur and Alappuzha would all see good amount of rainfall. However, heavy rains would now target northern parts of the state, while southern areas will get gradual relief from inclement weather conditions.
Image Credit: The Hindu
Any information taken from here should be credited to skymetweather.com
