Chennai got battered by Bubble Thunder Storms yesterday, 16-Sep-2011 ... http://ow.ly/6xafN

chennai - So far (8:31pm) NO cloud formations recorded.. Now having a stiff sea breeze from S-E. Rain window open till 11:30pm!

7pm, Heavy showers all over E.central India, N-E Andhra and Orissa ... http://ow.ly/i/hv09

Monsoon 4 percent above normal;set to withdraw by next weekend ... http://ow.ly/6x2Sy

Showers over entire India will go down from 20-Sep... and Monsoon withdrawal may start around 21-Sep

No let up in afternoon, evening T.showers for Andhra coast, N.Tamilnadu coast till 23-Sep.

chennai - after an unusually WET yesterday evening and night.. today it's fully cloudy, getting warm and humid... 1:35pm

Chennai got battered by Bubble Thunder Storms yesterday

People in Chennai cant forget the record rains we got in August 2011, where 120 year records were shattered by a distance. Particularly the 156 mm rainfall on 24th August, 2011 when thunderstorms formed in the evening kept on coming like a bubble till early morning.

Yesterdays rainfall is also similar, first storms were spotted in radar in the evening and the storms kept on coming like a bubble till early morning. Chennai got 76 mm from this TS, thus crossing 800 mm for the year before the start of NE monsoon. Recently, Chennai's annual rainfall is increased from 1220 mm to 1400 mm by IMD and the last 10 year average works out 1460 mm with 2560 mm received in 2005 being the highest.

We have received 836 mm till today morning, considering the rainfall and daily thunderstorms coming close to Chennai, we have to rethink whether Chennai really falls under rain shadow region. More studies have to initiated by IMD to study this daily phenomenon of Thunderstorms coming above and below belts of Chennai (from Pulicat to Pondicherry). The Radar at Chennai is also the best in India, because of less interference from height restrictions IMD has put in place for Construction of High Rise buildings.

* The name bubble Thunder Storms was given by members of Kea blog

Rainfall ending 8.30 am today in mm around Chennai

Nungambakkam (Chennai) – 76
Chembarampakkam – 60
Arakkonam – 45
Redhills – 42
Kadambathur – 41
Madhavaram – 34
Ennore – 32
Veeranam – 25
Meenambakam (Chennai AP) - 21

The present circulation over Bihar, Jharkand, N,central Bengal and E. Uttarpradesh will persist almost in that same zone till 23-Sep