Heavy rains pound Chennai, cold wave likely in northwest India till Jan 3- Check weather updates

New Delhi: Heavy rains lashed Chennai on Thursday (December 30, 2021) and led to three human deaths due to electrocution. The heavy rainfall also forced four subways to shut down yesterday. 

Nearly 100 streets in Chennai city were waterlogged and the officials and employees of the Greater Chennai Corporation are at work to clear the waterlogging in the city.

Tamil Nadu | Heavy rainfall has caused waterlogging in several parts of Chennai

Red alert has been issued in Chennai & surrounding districts of Kanchipuram, Thiruvallur, & Chinglepet, as per State Govt pic.twitter.com/3FvGKanj5t — ANI (@ANI) December 31, 2021

Tamil Nadu Revenue and Disaster Management Minister, K.K.S.S.R Ramachandran, informed the media that 106 streets in the city are waterlogged and once the rain stops, the waterlogging would be cleared.

The state’s Revenue and Disaster Management Minister also said that the tanks and reservoirs around Chennai are being monitored for inflow and if necessary they would be opened for safety.

Rains received were high in Nandanam, Vadapalani and M.R.C. Nagar in Chennai city, he further said. 

Meanwhile, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said Nungambakkam received 12 cm of rain and Nandanam 8 cm of rainfall during the day on December 30.

In an interaction with media, Deputy Director-General, IMD, S. Balachandran said, "The interaction of easterly winds at lower levels and westerly winds at upper level has brought rain to the city. The rains in the city will continue till January 3."

Cold wave conditions in Delhi

A cold wave swept through Delhi on Thursday as people in the city geared up to ring in a chilly New Year with the weather department predicting similar conditions till January 3.

The minimum temperature at the Safdarjung Observatory, considered the official marker for the national capital, dropped sharply to 3.4 degrees Celsius, four notches below normal. On Wednesday it was 8.4 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature settled at 19.5 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal.

Madhya Pradesh to experience cold wave conditions

Madhya Pradesh is expected to witness chilly weather conditions on the eve of the New Year with the IMD on Thursday issuing four yellow alerts warning of a cold wave in the state.

The alerts issued by the weather department also warn of thick fog and ground frost accumulation.

Cold weather conditions have already started prevailing in parts of the state as the lowest minimum temperature of 7 degrees Celsius was recorded in four districts ? Raisen, Dhar, Gwalior and Guna - on Thursday morning, an IMD official said.

(With agency inputs)