Cloudburst in North Chennai, Manali records 27cm rainfall

CHENNAI: The city experienced its first cloudburst this year, even as the Northeast monsoon is yet to set in, in the rains that lashed parts of North Chennai on Saturday night. According to the India Meteorological Department, there were six spells of rain of over 10cm per hour in Manali and surrounding areas, which would qualify as cloudburst under the the World Meteorological Organizations and IMDs definition. This is the third time in a single month when Chennai recorded rainfall exceeding 10 cm, and the only time such a weather event has occurred in the city, weather bloggers said. In the 24 hours ending 8:30 am on Sunday, Manali, New Manali Town, and Wimco Nagar recorded extremely heavy rainfall of 27cm, 26cm and 23cm respectively, the highest in the city. Between 10-11 pm, Manali (Div 19 and Zone 2) recorded 10.62 cm; during 11pm-12 am, Wimco nagar (Zone 1) recorded the most intense spell of 15.72 cm followed by Korattur: 13.71 cm; Manali (Div 19): 12.66 cm; New Manali Town (Div 15): 10.32 cm, according to the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), officially categorising the spell as cloud burst. While South Chennai also received a good spell of rainfall of around 5-7 cm, Korattur, Ennore, Parrys, and Nerkundram received 11-18 cm of rainfall. Tamil Nadu Weatherman Pradeep John said the month of August was exceptional in Chennais rainfall history due to three spells that exceeded 10 cm rainfall in a single month on August 22, 23 and 31. Chennais Nungambakkam observatory crossed 20 cm this month. Such a sequence has never occurred in the citys history, he said in a post on X. According to IMDs definition of cloudburst, a small area of 20-30 sq km receiving over 10 cm of rainfall within an hour, would qualify for a cloudburst event. Parts of North Chennai received rainfall well above this threshold on Saturday night, John said. According to RMC, the city may continue to receive spells of light to moderate rainfall on Monday. Other parts of the state may also receive light to moderate rainfall until September 5, in isolated places. The city was largely free of waterlogging on Sunday morning after some areas like MGR Nagar in Manali and parts of Purasaiwalkam reported water stagnation on Saturday night. Chennai corporation authorities said that traffic has been smooth including in subways. The chief minister, who left for Germany, contacted corporation authorities over phone to learn of the effects of Saturday nights rainfall, corporation officials said in a post on X.