The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a heavy rain warning for parts of Tamil Nadu on Saturday and a “yellow rain alert” for Sunday. Heavy rain is expected in isolated areas of Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Pudukottai districts, and Karaikal.
The regional meteorological centre in Chennai, in its Saturday forecast said, “Light to moderate rain is likely to occur at one or two places over Coastal Tamilnadu, Puducherry and Karaikal area. Dry weather is very likely to prevail over Interior Tamilnadu. Mist/Haze is very likely to prevail generally during morning hours at isolated pockets of Tamilnadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal area.”
For Sunday, it predicted, “Light to moderate rain is likely to occur at many places over Coastal Tamilnadu, at one or two places over Interior Tamilnadu, Puducherry & Karaikal area with thunderstorm and lightning at one or two places is likely to occur.”
A thunderstorm and lightning warning has also been issued for January 12 to 14 in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal.
The IMD said that cyclonic circulation in the lower tropospheric levels over the Southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining Southwest Bay of Bengal is influencing weather conditions.
“Light to moderate rainfall accompanied with thunderstorm, lightning very likely at a few places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh & Yanam and Rayalaseema on 13 January; Tamil Nadu, Puducherry & Karaikal during 12 – 14 January and Kerala & Mahe on 13 & 14 January with isolated heavy rainfall likely over Tamilnadu, Puducherry & Karaikal on 12 January,” IMD said in its latest weather bulletin.
Additionally, the IMD predicted, “Light to moderate rainfall accompanied with thunderstorm, lightning is also very likely at isolated places over Arunachal Pradesh and Assam & Meghalaya on 13 & 14 January.”
Cold wave conditions in north India
The dense fog continued to cover large parts of northern India on Saturday morning, with the iconic Taj Mahal also enveloped in fog. New Delhi and the National Capital Region were particularly affected by thick fog, while cities like Kanpur and Gwalior also saw dense fog. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the temperature in Delhi was recorded at 11 degrees Celsius on Saturday morning.
The weather department prediction for Saturday said, “Smog/ moderate fog at most places and dense fog at isolated places likely in the morning. Generally cloudy sky. Light rain/thunderstorm. Smog/shallow fog likely in the evening/night. The maximum and minimum temperatures would be around 15 and 08 degrees Celsius, respectively.”
Although no flight diversions or cancellations were reported at Indira Gandhi International Airport, several trains experienced delays due to the foggy conditions. The Delhi airport issued an advisory informing passengers that all flights were operating normally as runway visibility had improved.
The weather department also reported that Safdarjung observed a minimum visibility of 50 meters from 12.30 am to 1.30 am, which improved to 200 meters and remained at that level until 7.30 am. Several areas experienced dense fog during the early morning hours. The department has predicted thunderstorms with rain throughout the day, with the maximum temperature expected to reach around 15 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, cold wave to severe cold wave conditions was observed at isolated places over Himachal Pradesh, and cold wave conditions occurred at isolated places in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and eastern Uttar Pradesh on Friday. Ground frost was reported at isolated locations in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Dense to very dense fog affected a few areas in Punjab and isolated parts of Delhi, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, while dense fog was observed in many areas of Delhi and some parts of east Uttar Pradesh, as well as isolated areas in Himachal Pradesh and western Uttar Pradesh. The lowest minimum temperature recorded in the plains of northwest India was 03.3°C at Karauli (Rajasthan) on Friday.