Southern parts of Tamil Nadu got ravaged by extremely heavy and incessant rains over the weekend, on 16th and 17th Dec 2023. Four of the southern districts were literally marooned on account of non – stop torrential rains for over 24 hours. Fury of devastating rains was largely witnessed by four districts and their talukas
Including Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari and Tenkasi. Kayalpattinam in Thoothukudi district recorded massive 95cm rainfall in 24 hours. Palayamkottai in Tirunelveli district measured 442 mm of rainfall in 24 hours, beating its earlier record of 292mm n 1931. Kanyakumari also recorded over 300mm in 48 hours, far more than the normal figures at this time of the year.
A broad scale cyclonic circulation moved from east to west across South Sri Lanka, Comorin, Maldives in the equatorial region. Northward extension of this system impact extreme southern parts of the state of Tamil Nadu. Catastrophic rainfall in some pockets submerged the area with the fast moving streams of water. Prediction of such heavy rains was beyond the competency of numerical weather models. The current weather system has cleared the Comorin region and gone a way ahead of Lakshadweep, after lashing the islands of Minicoy and Agathi airport. Lakshadweep Islands and Southeast Arabian Sea will be the focus of heavy rains for another 48 hours.
Heavy rains have since ceased with and weather conditions have improved over Tamil Nadu. Air operations could be resumed and the relief work accessible in the distressed areas, by the disaster management agencies. As such, weather conditions behaved well in other parts of the state including the state capital Chennai. Mostly light rain, interspersed with few moderate showers are likely along and off the coast of Tamil Nadu, for the next one week or so.
There are series of weather system lined up across the Indian Ocean. However, these disturbances are travelling between equator and about 6°-7°N latitude, keeping a safe distance from the southern parts of the state. As such, the northeast monsoon tends to move towards its concluding phase during the last 10 days of December. Formation of a cyclone becomes rare and the perturbation activity gets limited to, near the equatorial belt. Sri Lanka, Comorin area and Maldives region remain within strike range of these systems. State of Tamil Nadu can focus on rescue and rehabilitation, without any fear of weather playing a spoil sport.
