An offshore trough is expected to bring heavy rainfall over the Western Ghats region till July 27. The rest of Tamil Nadu is likely to experience dry weather and other weather systems may keep temperatures near normal and influence light rain in some places.

Districts along the Western Ghats have been on the path of heavy rain for a few days now. In the 24 hours ending 8.30 a.m. on Friday, Avalanche in the Nilgiris district recorded the day’s highest rainfall of 10 cm in the State. Chinnakalar in Coimbatore district recorded 9 cm for the day.

Wet weekend

The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) has forecast that this weather trend was set to continue for a few more days owing to active southwest monsoon conditions. An offshore trough along Maharashtra-Kerala coasts would trigger very heavy rainfall in isolated parts of the Nilgiris and Coimbatore districts on Saturday. One or two places in Theni and Tenkasi districts have chances of heavy rainfall. A similar rainfall pattern may continue on Sunday.

B. Amudha, Head (Additional in-charge), RMC, Chennai, said the weather system over northwest Bay of Bengal has led to stratified clouds over Tamil Nadu, with moisture being drawn towards the weather system. This would bring spells of light rain and a drop in maximum temperature. While isolated rainfall in Tamil Nadu will continue till the month end, Chennai may see mild rainfall in some areas on Saturday.

The weather systems, including the one in Bay of Bengal, would influence a dip in maximum temperature across the State. The weather disturbance would add more cloud cover particularly over coastal belt and ensure cooler weather. Day temperature may rise after four or five days.

On Friday, Madurai airport, which usually records sizzling temperatures, experienced a maximum temperature of 36.5 degrees Celsius, which is slightly below normal. This was the highest temperature in the State for the day. Chennai’s Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam recorded 32.5 degrees Celsius and 32.1 degrees Celsius respectively.