Cyclone Madi moving rapidly towards Tamil Nadu

A Met official said the cyclone would cross the coast between Chennai and Nagapattinam as a depression or a well-marked low pressure. “The system Madi is moving rapidly and it could make landfall by Thursday night or Friday,” the official added.

Dr Y.E.A. Raj, deputy director general of meteorology, Regional Met­eor­olo­­gical Centre, Chennai, said the city would rece­ive moderate rainfall for the next three days. “If the system intensifies, th­en we can get welcome rains,” he pointed out.

According to Dr Raj, the weather condition was changing in the city and there could be a few heavy spells if the system gained momentum. Whi­le the temperature rose by a few degrees in the ci­ty on Wednesday, a few p­laces also experienced slight drizzle.

At present, the state is reeling under 32 per cent rainfall deficit for the northeast monsoon season starting October 1 to December 11. Tamil Nadu has recorded 27.4 cm mean rainfall, compared to the normal of 40.2 cm so far.