The Northeast monsoon, the onset of which was expected to be on October 17th, has arrived a day earlier across the South Indian states like Tami Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka Southern Andhra Pradesh and Union territory Puducherry, said Balachandran, the South Zone Head of the Indian Meteorological Department in Chennai.
While the ideal date for the onset of monsoon is October 20th, this year it has made its onset 4 days in advance on the 16th of October, with the moisture-laden easterly winds from the Bay of Bengal blowing across South India having brought widespread rain, he added.
Heavy, isolated rainfall is predicted across the southern districts of Tamil Nadu including Kanyakumari, Tuticorin, Ramanathapuram, Nellai and the delta region, besides the northern districts such as Tiruvallur, Kanchipuram, and Cuddalore.
Chennai city and its outskirts are expected to receive moderate rainfall at regular intervals over the next two days.
Fishermen have been advised not to venture towards the Kanyakumari coast and the Maldives region on the 17th and 18th October.
Weather blogger Pradeep John had said, “a great Northeast monsoon awaits Tamil Nadu, we will be getting normal to excess rains this time with good October, tricky November and a tricky December on the cards.”
Pertaining to Chennai he had posted, “East Coast Road will wake up to rainy mornings, the same pattern to continue and our time is mostly at nights and mornings.”
Though the Southwest monsoon that typically starts by June caters to the needs of a large part of India, the Northeast monsoon is crucial for Tamil Nadu as over 60% of the coastal districts’ rainfall is brought in by it, while bringing around 40-50% of the rainfall for the state’s interior districts.
The Northeast monsoon rains gain greater significance for Chennai city and its neighbouring districts of Tiruvallur and Kanchipuram as they are gradually recovering from the effects of the severe water crisis that was prevalent all throughout the summer months. Besides poor water management, the drought was made worse by the below-average monsoon in 2018.
Since the 2015 November-December floods, Chennai has been facing alternating scenarios in terms of rainfall received - with 2016 being rainfall deficient, 2017 being on the positive side and 2018 being rainfall deficit.
