Chennai: The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) at Chennai has denied that the 'cloudburst' led to intense rainfall in Chennai on Thursday and reiterated it was due to the fast movement of Easterly waves.
"It was not cloudburst, but fast movement of trough waves towards the Chennai coast which led to the deluge. So, cloudburst could no longer be linked with troughs. Further, even as we closely kept track of weather patterns in the state, we somehow missed such tracking of disturbance," said N. Puviyarasan, director of RMC, while addressing the media.
Such a reply came from the weather agency after a section of media on Thursday termed the downpour as 'cloudburst'.
Pointing out that cloudburst would usually give short copious rainfall, the weather expert noted that the incessant rains registered in Chennai on Thursday was chiefly due to sudden Easterly waves.
"There are few difficulties in predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall. Sometimes storm movement and rainfall intensity would be beyond forecast estimates. So the density of radars along with advanced equipment should be increased," the weatherman said, adding that they were also using satellite images from other countries to monitor the weather condition and forecast.
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K. Srikanth, a private weatherman, who runs 'Chennaiyil Oru Mazhaikkaalam', said, "the intensity of rainfall in the city has reduced today. The rain will last till January 2, as Easterly wave still exists over the Chennai coast."
Meanwhile, the rainwater in many areas in the city did not recede on Friday morning itself. Pedestrians had to trudge, while vehicles waded through inundated arterial roads.
Considering stagnant water, still two major subways- Madley subway in T.Nagar and Rangarajapuram - two-wheeler subway in Kodambakkam are closed. Traffic police personnel have diverted some routes including K.K Nagar, Rajarathinam stadium road and Thirumalaipillai road. Greater Chennai Corporation and Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) workers were pressed into action and they undertook rain-related relief works like clearing fallen trees and pumping out stagnant water.
Meanwhile, the state capital experienced moderate showers on the second consecutive day, partially affecting normal life. The light rain started at around 1 pm and continued till dusk. The IMD on Friday issued a red alert for Nagapattinam district, while orange alert has been sounded Tiruvallur, Chennai, Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu, Viluppuram, Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Karikkal. Similarly, an orange alert has been issued for 12 districts on Saturday.
During this North-East monsoon, TN recorded 711.6 mm rainfall against the normal value of 448.0 mm, which is 59 percent above normal. Chennai recorded highest seasonal average rainfall of 1360.4 mm of rain, while Krishnagiri district registered lowest of 442.0 mm of rain in 2021.
