Yesterday saw parts of South Chennai receive spells of moderate rains. These rains were heavier around Tambaram & South of Tambaram up to Chengalpattu. North Coastal Tamil Nadu around Villupuram, Cuddalore districts and Pondicherry saw very heavy rains in one or two places with Pondicherry recording possibly 7 cms while Ulundurpet, Neyveli also recorded in excess of 5 cms till today morning.
If one analyses the moderate to heavy rains pattern it fell into three areas Dindigul, Madurai, Pudukottai & Sivaganga districts in South TN. Villupuram Cuddalore, Perambalur & Ariyalur districts in Central / North TN, finally Kancheepuram district in North TN. In these three bands the one in the Centre got the bulk of rains around Villupuram & Cuddalore districts along with Pondicherry.
The last few days have seen strong sea breeze front set in around evening which has played a key role in the development of these thunderstorms today models are indicating a possibly weak sea breeze day for North Tamil Nadu including places around Chennai. This is likely to play a role in possible thunderstorm development with North TN likely to miss out on thunderstorms and rainfall prospects. The absence of sea breeze is likely to create a very hot and humid evening that is likely to be very uncomfortable till late night when the cooler land breeze could make it more comfortable.
In terms of rainfall prospects West coast will continue to see subdued activity with only possibly the ghats of Maharashtra & Karnataka seeing some moderate rainfall activity. Similarly the highlands in Central Kerala ould see moderate rainfall activity in one or two places. There is some chance of thunderstorms today as well in places around Delta, Pudukottai, Madurai & Ramanathapuram districts. As explained above sea breeze front could play a role in these storms.
Chennai is likely to see a hot and uncomfortable day with day time max temperature expected to stay around 36°C the weak sea breeze likely to aggravate the comfort factor making it an uncomfortable Sunday.