Chennai: Widespread rainfall on Monday morning took the city by surprise as it brought relief from the summer heat. The showers came at a time when many candidates were spending long hours outdoors, campaigning ahead of the state assembly election. “The rain was due to convection caused by the heat and the trough. It may rain on Tuesday as well, but the intensity may be lower and the spells may be isolated rather than widespread. There is a chance for rainfall over isolated places in TN for at least the next five days,” said V R Durai, director, area cyclone warning centre, RMC Chennai.On Tuesday, the city and the suburbs may receive light to moderate rainfall with thunderstorms and lightning over some areas. The sky may be partly cloudy, with temperatures reaching a maximum of 34C to 35C and a minimum of around 27C.Several parts of the core city and suburbs received rainfall on Monday that lasted several minutes. Nungambakkam recorded 3mm, Meenambakkam 4.5mm, YMCA Nandanam 49mm, Taramani 18.5mm, Anna University 6.5mm and Chembarambakkam 11mm.The rainfall brought respite, bringing down daytime temperatures to 32.5C in Nungambakkam and 33.6C in Meenambakkam, around 1.8C and 1.7C below normal.There is a chance for light to moderate rainfall over isolated parts of the state till April 12. Daytime temperatures may be 2C to 3C above normal at isolated pockets on Tuesday, but may return to near normal between April 8 and 10.Blogger Pradeep John said the city received rainfall from storms moving southwards from the Tirupati region. Automatic weather stations in KK Nagar recorded 58mm, West Mambalam 50mm, Guindy 51mm, Saligramam 35mm, Mogappair 33mm, Thiruvanmiyur 24mm and Thiruninravur 20mm.“Normally, storms weaken during the daytime, but that was not the case on Monday. Some parts of the city received very intense rainfall in a short period,” he said.
