Chennai and Thiruvallur are under red alert for extremely heavy rain on Tuesday as the remnant of Cyclone Ditwah lingers just 35 km off the coast. Schools and colleges in Chennai, Tiruvallur, and Kanchipuram are closed. IMD expects the system to weaken in the next 12 hours, but the messy, wet forecast remains for the week.
We’re back at it. It’s Red Alert day for Chennai, again. And Thiruvallur, those too. The system—what’s left of Cyclonic Storm Ditwah—it just won’t leave. It’s hanging right there, a deep depression, 35 km off the North Tamil Nadu and South Andhra coasts. Still too close for comfort.
The IMD is worried enough to keep the red alert going. Extremely heavy rain is the forecast for Chennai and Thiruvallur. The temperatures are cool, though, maxing out around . That happened. And then the torrential downpour followed.
What the Weather System Is Doing
The thing is, the system is supposed to finally weaken. It’s “very likely to recurve slowly southwestwards,” the IMD said. And it should weaken into a depression within the next 12 hours. But “very likely” is the operative phrase here. It’s been moving so slowly, barely 3 kmph over the past few hours, moving parallel to the coast. That slow track is what keeps bringing the moisture inland.
We’re looking at an unsettled week.
-
Wednesday (Dec 3): Heavy rain still expected. Cloudy sky.
-
Thursday onwards: The forecast turns partly cloudy, but they’re still calling for consistent possibility of moderate rain or thunderstorms. With lightning.
It’s not going to be a tidy, sudden clearing. It’s going to be a gradual, messy, week-long situation where the water has to drain out while more keeps falling.
Schools and Travel Halted
The district authorities made the right call late yesterday.
-
Schools and colleges in Chennai, Tiruvallur, and Kanchipuram are completely shut today, December 2nd. A precautionary measure.
-
The officials are citing intense rainfall risk and the potential for waterlogging. Safety first, or nothing.
Residents are urged to stay indoors. Avoid unnecessary travel. The government and disaster management agencies have the advisories out there. They are getting ready for more waterlogging. It’s an ongoing situation until that system finally moves away, and honestly, even after it weakens, the rainfall risk is still hanging around for days.
End….
