The Hindu Business Line : Cyclonic rains drench the South

DELUGE AFTER DROUGHT: Water being pumped out of a cellar of a building on M.G. Road in Kochi, which was flooded in the rain that lashed the city on Sunday night. Many vehicles parked in the cellar were submerged in rainwater. - H. Vibhu

Thiruvananthapuram , May 3

MET authorities who have forecast a normal monsoon during the `rain year' just ahead could well take relief from the fact that the first low pressure system of the season has kept more or less with date, bringing most parts of the southern peninsula under its influence.

The Nature's clock is normally set to trigger the seasonal weather disturbances by end-April/early-May and later in October on either side of the monsoon median.

In fact, the constantly evolving low pressure system traced to southwest of the Bay of Bengal on Sunday has prompted India Meteorological Department (IMD) to declare an official warning about `heavy to very heavy' falls over Tamil Nadu and Kerala during the next two-to-three days when it is expected to be in its `most active phase'.

During the 24 hours ended 8.30 a.m. on Monday, widespread rain was reported from Kerala, with Old Kochi Airport recording a heavy 11 cm. The other chief amounts of rainfall recorded in the State were (in cm): Cochin International Airport - nine; Kollam, Piravom and Thrissur - seven; Cherthala, Kannara, Tiruvalla and Varkala - five each; Aryankavu, Kanjirappally and Thiruvananthapuram - four each; Thrithala - three, and Punalur, Minicoy, Idukki and Konni - one each.

In Tamil Nadu, the following places recorded `heavy to very heavy' rainfall (in cm): Karaikal - 14, Nagapattinam - 13, Pamban - 10, Thiruvannamalai and Ambassamudram - seven each and Chennai Airport- Tiruvarur and Mayiladuthurai - six each.

On Monday morning, the system had become well-marked and lay over the southwest Bay close to the Nagapattinam coast in Tamil Nadu and adjoining Sri Lanka. The north-south trough extending from Chhattisgarh to south of Tamil Nadu had become less marked in the process.

Mr M. D. Ramachandran, Director, Met Office, Thiruvananthapuram, told Business Line that the system had been moving slowly in a westerly direction and was expected to cross the State of Kerala in two-to-three days. He, however, discounted the possibility of its leaving a trail of destruction - normally expected of a cyclone making a landfall and crossing over - since the accompanying winds had not been able to and would possibly not pick up speeds in excess of 30 km per hour. All the same, there would not be any respite from the `very wet' session that would dominate the southern peninsular weather for the next two days, he added.

Rain or thundershowers have been forecast at most places in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, Kerala and Lakshadweep; at many places over south coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema and at a few places over coastal and south interior Karnataka. `Heavy rainfall' has been forecast at a few places with `isolated very heavy' falls over Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Isolated heavy falls are also likely over south coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema and Lakshadweep.

Widespread rainfall triggered by the system capped what Mr Ramachandran described as a `successful' (classified as `normal' in meteorology parlance) summer shower season for Kerala this year.

The showers were weak to start with but gathered steam as the season wore on covering in phases the entire State, some of which bore the brunt of one of the harshest summers in recent times. This had come on top of successive failures of the two preceding monsoons.

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