Cyclone Madi, that had weakened to a well marked low yesterday, has moved across Tamil Nadu and Kerala and is presently stationed over Lakshadweep and south east Arabian Sea.
Madi is weakening further and will move well away from the Indian region in the next 24 hours. However, the remnants of Cyclone Madi have given much needed rain in Tamil Nadu including the interiors.
Below are the rainfall figures recorded at some places:
Chennai- 9.4 mm
Cuddalore- 24 mm
Kodaikanal- 58.6 mm
Kanyakumari- 30 mm
Karaikal- 25 mm
Pamban- 14 mm
Madurai- 74.6 mm
Nagapattinam- 20 mm
Coimbatore- 30 mm
These rainfall figures will surely help cover up some deficit that the state has been witnessing due to the weak northeast monsoon. However, after 24 hours the weather is likely to become dry again. Thereafter, we look up to some small scale systems in the Bay of Bengal to bring more rain in the region.
Tamil Nadu is largely dependent on the northeast monsoon rains that begin in October and last till December. But lack of rain in these months has left the state facing a rainfall deficit of about 32%. From 1st October to 11th December Tamil Nadu has received 273.2 mm of rain as opposed to the normal figures of 400.6 mm. And with only a couple of weeks left for the northeast monsoon to get over, it does not seem likely that this deficit will get covered up.
