Tamil Nadu, Puducherry likely to receive rain as Bay system strengthens

Chennai: A low-pressure area over the southeast Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm in the coming days, bringing rain to parts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, according to the weather department.

Fishermen have been advised against venturing into several parts of the Bay of Bengal until November 17. The system formed on Friday under the influence of an upper-air cyclonic circulation over the central Andaman Sea and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

It is expected to move northwestwards initially and intensify over the weekend. The weather department has forecast that the system would subsequently move north-northwestwards towards the central Bay of Bengal, where conditions could favour its development into a cyclonic storm.

A trough associated with the circulation also extends towards the northern Maldives through the adjoining equatorial Indian Ocean.

These atmospheric conditions are expected to influence rainfall across Tamil Nadu over the next few days.

On Saturday, isolated rainfall is likely in districts along the Western Ghats, including the Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Theni, Dindigul, Tiruppur and Tenkasi.

Rain is also forecast at one or two places in Virudhunagar, Kanniyakumari and Tirunelveli districts. Northern coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry could receive isolated showers during the day.

On Sunday and Monday, light to moderate rain is likely at isolated places across the Western Ghats districts, southern Tamil Nadu and northern coastal Tamil Nadu.

In Chennai, skies are expected to remain partly cloudy on Saturday, with light rain possible in some areas. The city and other parts of northern Tamil Nadu could receive further showers as the system strengthens and moves over the Bay.

Meanwhile, fishermen have been advised against venturing into the southwest, southeast, southern and central Bay of Bengal until November 17, as rough sea conditions are expected during this period.

The advisory covers fishing grounds across these stretches of the Bay, where the developing system is expected to create unfavourable conditions at sea.

In the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Friday, Mambazhathuraiyar in Kanniyakumari district recorded six centimetres of rain, the highest rainfall reported in Tamil Nadu.