India: Flooding Downpours Continue in Tamil Nadu This Week

By Eric Leister, Meteorologist

December 1,2015; 10:00PM,EST

 

 

The reprieve from heavy rain across southern India has ended as heavy downpours have returned to the region.
Several days of welcome dry weather ended as tropical moisture from the Bay of Bengal surged back into southern India, drenching areas from Nagapattinam to Nellore.
Rainfall spread as far north as Visakhapatnam in northeast Andhra Pradesh; however, the heaviest rain was focused over eastern Tamil Nadu through Tuesday.

The unsettled weather will persist for much of the week in Tamil Nadu, while also impacting Kerala and southern Karnataka.
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The most numerous downpours and heaviest rainfall will be focused on the eastern coast of India from Chidambaram northward to Chennai and Machilipatnam through Wednesday.
New flooding problems will become more widespread with rain totals of 100-200 mm (4-8 inches). AccuWeather Meteorologist Adam Douty warned of locally up to 375 mm (15 inches).
Indians help a man carry his two-wheeler on a cycle cart as they wade through a waterlogged subway in Chennai, India, Monday, Nov. 9, 2015. (AP Photo/Arun Sankar K.)
At the same time, a separate zone of isolated showers and thunderstorms will dot parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, through Wednesday. Most of the activity will be found from Bhopal to Lucknow and Patna.
While the rain near Mumbai and New Delhi is welcomed, rain-weary southern India is definitely in need of a more persistent dry spell.
Rainfall has been relentless across southern India this month, resulting in multiple events of flooding from Chennai to Kochi.
For the month of November, Chennai has reported 1,024mm (40.31 inches) of rain, more than 300 percent of the normal rainfall that is expected for the entire month.
December continued this very wet pattern as more than 300 mm (12 inches) of rain fell in Chennai.

Flooding Swamps Southern India

The tropical low causing the flooding downpours in southern India and Sri Lanka will be monitored for the potential to become a tropical cyclone as it meanders offshore of India through the middle of the week; however, tropical development is not expected at this time.
Regardless of tropical development, flooding downpours will remain a high threat across southern India this week.
In the longer range, a continued surge of moisture from the Bay of Bengal will keep wet weather in the forecast for much of southern India during the first half of December.
A view of a residential area flooded following heavy rain in Chennai, Tamil Nadu state, India, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015. Incessant rain that lashed the city since Saturday night flooded several parts of Chennai. (AP Photo/Arun Sankar K)
AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski contributed to the content of this story.