Thursday, October 22, 2009

Extended summer for city (Chennai) as rains stay away

It should have been raining in the city on Tuesday, instead it turned out to be scorching day, with the day temperature touching 35. 2

degrees Celsius, four degrees above the monthly average of 31. 4 degrees. With the north-east monsoon failing to arrive on schedule (October 20), it has been a consistently hot October till date, with every day recording above normal day temperature. The mercury even touched 37 degrees on three days this month.

The easterly winds, which are a prelude to the onset of the monsoon, set in on October 12. Normally, rains follow within five days. However, apart from rains in districts such as Ramanathapuram and Vedaranyam, most parts of the state continue to be without rains. Meteorological officials say the monsoon is at least three days away, while charts based on satellite pictures indicate lack of rainfall activity even on October 24. Global weather charts also indicate that Chennai is likely to receive around 6 .2 mm of rainfall, as against the monthly average of 40 mm.

Meanwhile, Metrowater officials say there is nothing to worry on the water front. "The current storage poistion in our lakes is comfortable, and once the rains come, we will have enough till the middle of next year," an official said. The combined storage in the lakes as on Tuesday stood at 2,823 mcft. Poondi lake has1209 mcft, Cholavaram 188 mcft, Red Hills 1,056 mcft and Chembarambakkam 370 mcft.

A delay of up to eight days in the arrival of the monsoon is considered a standard deviation, said Y E Raj, deputy director general, Regional Meteorological Centre. In the last ten years, the monsoon has arrived in November only once (November 5, 2000), and in 2007, it arrived on October 22. In all the other years, the monsoon set in ahead of schedule. Last year it arrived five days ahead. The city so far faces a 99% deficiency of rainfall for the month. The average rainfall for the season (October 1 to December 31) is 860 mm. "The actual deficiency so far for the month is around 80 mm, and one good spell will wipe this out. Last year, heavy rains occured only after November 15," said Raj. The north-east monsoon is also a season when cyclonic storms that bring in more rain can be expected, he added.

Meanwhile, Chennaiites continue to sweat over the weather. "I was out on work at noon, and the heat was unbearable," said Arjun R, a communications expert. The discomfort continued through the day, with lack of breeze in the last few days. "From August the weather turns breezy at least from the early evening, but this year you feel as though it is still summer," said N Subash, employed in a government office.

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