City & suburbs to get rain starting today, says IMD | Chennai News

Chennai: After June ended with scorching days and humid nights, the city may finally get some respite this week with the return of evening thunderstorms. Weather models indicated a fresh spell of widespread rainfall in the city and suburbs starting Wednesday, till Sunday.According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), the city and suburbs are likely to receive light to moderate rainfall on Wednesday under partly cloudy skies. Maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to hover around 37°C-38°C and 28°C-29°C respectively.“On Wednesday, the city and suburbs may receive light to moderate rainfall over some areas. Skies may be partly cloudy,” the IMD bulletin read.Meteorologists attribute the rainfall possibility to a weakening of the southwest monsoon winds along the west coast. This weakening allows sea breeze to move inland, creating favourable wind convergence and triggering convective activity that leads to thunderstorms.Chennai typically receives about 10cm of rainfall in July. Last month, the city saw around 7cm.IMD has also issued a forecast for light to moderate rainfall at isolated locations across Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal until July 7.However, weather blogger Pradeep John cautioned that rainfall forecasts remain uncertain. “There is a 50% chance for rain activity,” he said.On Tuesday, some suburban areas received light rain spells. Rain gauges in Anna University and Sathyabhama University recorded 0.5mm rainfall. Earlier, Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam recorded 36.3°C and 36.9°C.On Monday, IMD released a monthly forecast which said the city and suburbs may receive near normal rainfall and record below normal maximum temperature and above normal night temperatures.