Monsoon advances to southern Tamil Nadu

Four days after its official onset, the southwest monsoon began advancing into Tamil Nadu, with heavy rain lashing the southern districts.  Rainfall was also reported in Gujarat and Saurashtra.

The weather department has said the upper cyclonic formation in the Bay of Bengal would further intensify rainfall in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu over the next two days.

However, there were no impact of the advancing monsoon on the northern districts, which continued to struggle under intense heat.

Chennai, Kancheepuram, Thiruvallur, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam and the Union Territory of Puducherry all recorded temperatures of about 41 degrees Celsius on Friday.

In the past 24 hours, Kodaikanal in Dindigul district received a maximum of 40 mm rain, while Devala in Nilgiris district recorded 30 mm downpour.

A senior Regional Meteorological Centre official said on Friday that rain would continue in southern parts of the state due to an upper air cyclonic circulation over southeast Bay of Bengal.

The official said the monsoon will further advance into Tamil Nadu, covering some more parts of southwest Bay of Bengal and the remaining parts of southeast Bay of Bengal shortly.

Meanwhile, the prevailing southwesterly winds at the lower level has led to rainfall at isolated places in Gujarat and  Saurashtra region in the past 24 hours.

Though temperatures dipped in the immediate vicinity of the areas receiving rainfall, the rest of the state continued to reel under severe heat.

The Met department said Rajkot in Saurashtra region received 6.2 mm rain till 5.30 pm on Friday. The city recorded 70.2 mm rain late on Thursday.