Rain water logging on Railway feeder road in Ramanathapuram on Friday.
| Photo Credit: L. Balachandar
The Regional Meteorological Centre has maintained its red alert, indicating possibility of isolated extremely heavy rainfall, for various districts in Tamil Nadu on Saturday (November 29, 2025) and two districts on Sunday, as Cyclone Ditwah continues to move over coastal Sri Lanka and the adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal.
Cyclone Ditwah, which brought torrential downpour over Sri Lanka, moved slowly at a speed of 3 kmph over coastal Sri Lanka and southwest Bay of Bengal, about 410 km south-southeast of Puducherry and 510 km south of Chennai, according to a bulletin issued at 6 p.m. on Friday. It is very likely to move across Sri Lanka coast and adjoining Southwest Bay of Bengal and reach over southwest Bay of Bengal near North Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts by early Sunday.
Red weather alert, indicating possibility of rainfall above 21 cm at one or two places, has been issued to four districts — Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, Villupuram and Chengalpattu, along with Puducherry on Saturday as the weather system edges closer to TN region. Heavy to very heavy rainfall may lash 14 delta and northern districts, including Chennai, Salem, Thanjavur and Ranipet and six other districts, including Vellore, may get heavy rainfall on Saturday.
On Sunday, heavy rainfall may be largely confined to north TN, with a red alert issued for Tiruvallur and Ranipet districts. Chennai, which has a 32% rain deficit, and its surrounding districts, have been placed under an orange alert.
The RMC’s cyclone track projection indicates that the cyclone is likely to move parallel to the Tamil Nadu coast and is likely to lose intensity as deep depression by Sunday evening.
B. Amudha, Head (Additional in-charge), RMC, said the system is expected to maintain projected track for now. Cyclone Ditwah was positioned over Sri Lanka on Friday and its movement had slowed. Once the centre of the system moves away from the terrain influence and re-enters the sea, it is likely to gain strength.
The outer bands of the system were bringing wind gusts of up to 40 kmph to coastal areas during the day. Strong surface winds with speed of 70-80 kmph gusting up to 90 kmph may prevail over delta districts and adjoining coastal districts on Saturday, she said. Such strong northeasterly surface winds are likely to bring in abundant moisture and trigger rainfall in coastal districts.
On Friday, districts, including Ramanathapuram, Thanjavur, Thoothukudi and Nagapattinam received rainfall till 6 p.m. Meanwhile, the Water Resources Department on Friday increased water discharge from Chennai’s drinking water reservoirs, including Poondi and Chembarambakkam, in anticipation of heavy rainfall during the weekend.
Published – November 28, 2025 07:36 pm IST
