Will it rain in Chennai? This is IMD’s latest alert for the city amid deep depression in Bay of Bengal

As the deep depression is brewing over the southwest Bay of Bengal heads  northwestwards towards the Sri Lankan coast, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has withdrawn the heavy rain alert for Chennai, according to reports. Though there are chances for some showers in Chengalpet, which could receive heavy rainfall of 6–12cm on Saturday, the situation in Chennai and Kancheepuram won’t be as bad as expected, as the depression is likely to cross the Sri Lankan coast on Friday.

The city could, however, receive light to moderate intensity rainfall on Friday, depending on how the system crosses Sri Lanka. “Partly cloudy skies may keep temperatures at a maximum of 28–29°C and a minimum of around 24°C,” an IMD bulletin said.

An orange alert has been issued for heavy rainfall of 12 cm to 20 cm in coastal districts, including the Delta district in Tamil Nadu, on Friday and Saturday.

The latest IMD alert reads: The deep depression over southwest Bay of Bengal moved nearly northwestwards with a speed of 10 kmph during past six hours, and lay centred at 05:30 hours IST of Friday over the same region near latitude 7.1°N and longitude 83.3°E, about 160 km east of Pottuvil (Sri Lanka), 190 km east-southeast of Batticaloa (Sri Lanka), 260 km east-northeast of Hambantota (Sri Lanka), 280 km southeast of Trincomalee (Sri Lanka), 570 km southeast of Karaikal (Puducherry) and 740 km south-southeast of Chennai (Tamilnadu).”

It is very likely to continue to move northwestwards and cross north Sri Lanka coast between Trincomalee and Jaffna around Saturday afternoon.

The Sri Lankan authorities too confirmed the updates, stating the depression is likely to cross the north Sri Lanka coast between Trincomalee and Jaffna around Saturday afternoon instead of the earlier prediction of landfall between Pottuvil–Trincomalee on Friday night.