Many places, particularly in coastal and north Tamil Nadu, enjoyed thunderstorms on Friday. The Meteorological Department forecast that thunderstorms with light to moderate rain will continue over a few places of the State and Puducherry till May 25.
For the second consecutive day, various areas in Chennai and neighbouring districts received light to moderate rain on Friday. Such rain spells are considered rare during May.
Heavy rain lashed some parts of the city’s southern suburbs. West Tambaram received nearly 6 cm of rain, followed by Chembarambakkam (4 cm) and Kancheepuram (3 cm) till 5.30 p.m.
Many other places like Nungambakkam, Taramani, Poonamallee and Villivakkam in Chennai and Vellore, Valparai, Tiruvannamalai and Tiruvallur also received light rain.
Officials of the Meteorological Department cited convective activity and an east-west shear zone, which is filled with winds of opposite directions, near south Tamil Nadu as reasons for the thunderstorms. However, the intensity of the rain may reduce from Saturday.
The low-pressure area brewing over the east-central Bay of Bengal and the adjoining north Andaman Sea may push up mercury levels by two to four degree Celsius in north coastal areas between May 23 and 25. Dry weather may return to most parts of the State as hot northwesterlies may begin to prevail.
The weather system over the Bay of Bengal is likely to develop into a cyclone around May 24 and move towards the Odisha-West Bengal coasts.
Chennai continues to stand a chance of light to moderate rain in some localities during the weekend, according to the Meteorological Department.
