Date:04/10/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/10/04/stories/2006100415790300.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Thunder, lightning, rain in city

Staff Reporter

Power disturbances, voltage fluctuations reported by residents

CHENNAI : Chennai's residents, reeling under a hot spell, were pleasantly reprieved by the thunder and lightning, followed by rain, on Monday night.

The thunderclaps kept many of them awake for over two hours up to 3 a.m, residents said. A few parts of the city and suburbs received heavy rain too.

The weather gauges at Meenambakkam recorded a rainfall of seven cm; Nungambakkam recorded 3 cm till 8.30 a.m. on Tuesday, according to the meteorological department. Earlier on Monday the temperature was 36 degrees Celsius at Nungambakkam and 35 degrees Celsius at Meenambakkam.

A meteorological department official said the rain occurred due to pre-monsoon thunderous activity. Normally, the northeast monsoon sets in the state during the middle of October.

The seasonal rainfall from June 1 to September 27 in the city has been normal with 426 mm, according to the weather department's website.

Meanwhile residents complained of power fluctuations in various parts of the city on Monday due to the showers. While areas such as Tambaram and Thiruneermalai had disturbances in power supply during night hours, areas including T.Nagar, Anna Nagar and Kolathur had low voltage in electric supply.

Residents of T. Nagar and Kolathur said that the voltage that started late evening intensified after the rain.

Catchment areas

The catchment areas of the city reservoirs also received rainfall. While the reservoir at Cholavaram recorded a rainfall of 1.3 cm, Chembarambakkam reservoir received 5 cm of rainfall. But Poondi recorded only 3mm.

At present, about 400 cubic feet per second of water is being released from Poondi reservoir to Red Hills reservoir for meeting the city's drinking water requirements.

A Public Works Department official said the water from the Poondi reservoir, which stores Kandaleru water released from Andhra Pradesh, was transmitted as the storage at the Red Hills reservoir had decreased slightly.

The weather department forecasts partly cloudy sky with possibility of showers or thundershowers in some areas of the city during evening or night on Wednesday.