As Pongal festivities were winding down yesterday saw rains return over many parts of Tamil Nadu. In particular few places in Delta district recorded moderate rains which has created a new worry for those farmers who have been waiting for Pongal festivities to complete before they start their harvesting activities for the season.
Tiruchirappalli AP recorded 15 mm while places like Thirumayam, Grand Anaicut, Orathanadu recorded 1 cm or more till 4:30 AM today morning. While Chennai & few suburbs recorded early morning rains along with parts of North Delta, Cuddalore & Puducherry districts places in South Delta, Tiruchy, Thanjavur and Pudukottai districts recorded rains later in the morning & afternoon.
Weather models indicate this rain event to be short lived from the beginning when the ensembles picked up the event about 10 days back. So we are likely to see the return of sunshine from today with models indicating above average day time temperatures across large parts of the state associated with dry conditions. This should help ground water to evaporate faster in those paddy fields over the delta region that are yet to be harvested in a day or two allowing harvesting to be started without much delay and loss of grains.