Northeast Monsoon rain usually happens in spurts of 2-3 days, which was exactly the case till a couple of days back in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. But a low pressure in the Bay of Bengal has brought about a change in the wind pattern, curbing the feature of widespread rain. The system is rather giving spot heavy rain in the states.
In the last two days there has been over 100 mm of rain at some places. Madurai in Tamil Nadu recorded 133.1 mm of rain on November 2. On the same day Sivakasi observed 110 mm of rain, while Thiruvananthapuram recorded 80 mm, Thirumangalam 80 mm, Peraiyur 90 mm, Gudalur 70 mm and Kanyakumari 50 mm of rain.
In adjoining Kerala, Kozhikode recorded 70 mm of rain on November 2. Ponnani is another place that witnessed 80 mm of rain. Iduki and Sriharikota also observed 60 mm and 50 mm of rain respectively.
In the last 24 hours from 8.30 am on Sunday, Chennai observed 25 mm of rain, Karaikal 37 mm, Nagapattinam 42 mm, Theni 50 mm and Ramanathapuram 40 mm.
This pattern of spot heavy rain will continue in Tamil Nadu and Kerala for atleast another 48 hours due to the low pressure in the Bay of Bengal governing the winds in the region.
Northeast Monsoon rain has been very good in the region despite its late arrival, by October 18. Tamil Nadu has recorded about 250 mm of rain in the month of October against the average of 170 mm, which is 45% more rain.
Kerala too has observed very good Northeast Monsoon rain in October. The state has recorded 344 mm of rain against the monthly average of 276 mm.
