Cloudburst brings intense rainfall over Chennai, flights diverted

According to airport authorities, some flights scheduled to arrive at the Chennai airport were diverted to Bengaluru.

Chennai: Chennai received intense overnight rain, and there was a cloud burst over Manali, a northern neighbourhood of the city, Regional Meteorological Centre said on Sunday.

Some flights scheduled to arrive at the Chennai airport were diverted to Bengaluru, according to airport authorities.

As per the Regional Meteorological Centre bulletin, Chennai received an intense rain between 10 pm to 12 midnight on Saturday, with North Chennai receiving the extremely heavy rainfall.

"Three extremely heavy, 8 very heavy and 28 heavy rainfall events were recorded during the 24-hour ending 8.30 am of August 31 with Manali, New Manali Town and Wimco Nagar recording extremely heavy rainfall of 27 cm, 26 cm and 23 cm, respectively," a bulletin issued by the department said.

As such, a cloud burst occurred over Manali area and neighbourhood with Zone 2. Manali (Division 19) recorded 106.2 mm rainfall during 10-11 pm and 126.6 mm rainfall during 11 pm - 12 midnight on Saturday, the bulletin said.

The bulletin further added, "Cloud burst occurred over Manali area and neighbourhood (on August 30, 2025 night). There were six reports of rain spells of over 10 cm/hr that qualify the WMO & IMD’s definition of cloud burst."

The areas that contributed to cloud burst include Manali 106.2 mm; Wimco Nagar, the most intense spell of 157.2 mm, followed by Korattur (137.1 mm) and other nearby areas.

Meanwhile, well known private weather forecaster Pradeep John, said August 2025 has turned out to be a historic month for Chennai.

"For the first time ever, the city has recorded three 100 plus mm events in a single month (August 22, 23 and 31, 2025). Such a sequence has never occurred in the city's history," he said in a social media post.

According to the airport sources, flights from Bengaluru, Delhi, France and Mangaluru scheduled to arrive Chennai were diverted to Bengaluru due to heavy rainfall in the wee hours of Sunday.

However, after the weather was clear in Chennai, the passengers were flown back to the city from Bengaluru by different flights, airport authorities said.

In its forecast for the Chennai and neighbouring districts, the Meteorological bulletin said light to moderate rain is likely to occur at isolated places over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal area during the next 24 hours.

Strong wind gusting to 40-50 kmph is likely over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal area, it said.

On August 23, many places in Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, Tiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram and Tiruvannamalai districts received moderate to heavy overnight rains.