Chennai: A low-pressure area over the southwest Bay of Bengal off the Tamil Nadu coast is unlikely to bring heavy rain to Chennai and its suburbs until this weekend, with the city likely to receive moderate rain over the next three days.The system is expected to bring heavy to very heavy rain (orange alert) to 17 southern and delta districts on Thursday and heavy rain (yellow alert) to nine districts. On Friday, an orange alert will cover three southern and western districts, while 24 districts will be under yellow alert. India Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rain in 29 districts, including Chennai, Tiruvallur, Chengalpet and Kancheepuram, on Oct 25.V R Durai, director, Area Cyclone Warning Centre, RMC Chennai, said heavy rain could return to Chennai and neighbouring districts on Oct 25 as the system moves northwards. Another system may form over the southeast and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal on Oct 23 and may intensify into a cyclone, but is unlikely to bring rain to Tamil Nadu because of its distance from the coast.“The low pressure area is not strong enough for us to issue red alerts to southern districts. It may weaken in two or three days and move northwards, which may bring heavy rain to Chennai and neighbouring districts. For the next three days, there is a chance of moderate intensity rain over Chennai,” he said.On Thursday, Chennai may get moderate rain, with thunderstorms and lightning in some areas. Cloudy skies are expected to keep maximum temperatures at 32°C and minimum temperatures at 25°C.IMD withdrew Sunday’s red alert after the circulation weakened. Technical teams are also inspecting IMD and GCC rain gauges following discrepancies in rainfall readings.
