Chennai: Heavy rains hit Chennai on Thursday afternoon as many parts of Tamil Nadu were put on high alert following the threat of Cyclone Nada making a landfall later in the day.
According to ANI, the Tamil Nadu state department said that the cyclonic storm over the southwest bay had weakened to a deep depression. It added that, ‘Light to moderate rainfall is expected over many places in the state, with isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall in coastal areas.’
The Met department said the cyclone is likely to further weaken into depression in the next 24 hours.
A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) spokesperson said that in view of development of the cyclone over Southeast Bay of Bengal, 6 teams have been positioned in coastal areas of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
NDRF though added that the chances of flooding due to Nada’s landfall were less as the cyclone had weakened.
Earlier, it was reported that Cyclone Nada, which was expected to give much needed rains to Chennai and Tamil Nadu will make a landfall late Thursday night.
But another cyclone is expected to be formed on December 5 at the South Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Nada will make a landfall at Cuddalore on Thursday night, as against the earlier prediction of Friday morning.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle earlier on Thursday, S.B. Thambi, deputy director general, Regional Meteorological Centre confirmed the weakening of the cyclone, but did not wish to comment much on it.
Explaining the status of Nada, Weather Blogger, Sai Praneeth said, “As wind shear - an opposing force to cyclone flow is intense at the Tamil Nadu coast, the cyclone is expected to turn into depression by evening today.”
It would make landfall tonight, he added. However, there is still hope of moderate rains for the next twenty four hours days as intense outer bands are witnessed across the state.
“It is unsure if the second system expected to form on 5 December would yield rains to Tamil Nadu. Models have to be closely watched,” added Sai Praneeth.
Meanwhile, local weather stations state that Adiramapatanam noted 21.6 mm rain while Karaikal received 13.1 mm.
Nagapattinam and Thanjavur received 20.1 mm and 11 mm rain respectively. While slight to moderate rains are witnessed in parts of Chennai, intense rains are on the way for Mahabalipuram.
All said, the city would remain cloudy and pleasant for the next few days, under the influence of back-to-back cyclones.
