Tamil Nadu Weather: Heavy Rains Are Back; Several Districts On Yellow, Orange Alerts Till Sunday

Rains have returned to several parts of Tamil Nadu, prompting the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Chennai, to issue multiple weather alerts for the coming days. According to the latest bulletin, districts across the delta region, coastal Tamil Nadu and parts of north Tamil Nadu are expected to receive heavy rainfall at isolated places, with yellow and orange alerts issued from Thursday through Sunday.

The RMC warned of heavy rain at isolated locations over Ramanathapuram, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam districts and the Karaikal region on Thursday. The renewed spell of rainfall is being attributed to a developing weather system over the Bay of Bengal, combined with favourable atmospheric conditions.

For Friday, the weather agency has placed three districts under orange alert and five districts under yellow alert. Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, and Karaikal are expected to witness intense rainfall activity and are on orange alert, indicating the possibility of very heavy rain at isolated places. Meanwhile, Ramanathapuram, Thanjavur, Mayiladuthurai, Pudukkottai, and Cuddalore districts have been issued a yellow alert, warning of heavy rain.

The intensity of rainfall is expected to increase further on Saturday, with five districts placed under orange alert and eight districts under yellow alert. Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, along with Puducherry and Karaikal, are on orange alert. Districts under yellow alert on Friday include Pudukkottai, Ariyalur, Villuppuram, Kallakurichi, Chengalpattu, Chennai, Kancheepuram, and Thanjavur.

In addition, the RMC has forecast heavy rain at isolated places over Tiruvallur, Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Ranipet, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Villuppuram, Kallakurichi, Cuddalore, and Puducherry, raising concerns over waterlogging and traffic disruptions in urban pockets.

On Sunday, the alert continues with a yellow warning issued for Tiruvallur, Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Ranipet, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Villuppuram, Kallakurichi, Cuddalore, and Puducherry, indicating that the wet spell is likely to persist into the weekend.

Explaining the weather system behind the rains, the RMC stated that a well-marked low-pressure area over the southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining East Equatorial Indian Ocean has intensified into a Depression as of 8:30 am on Wednesday, January 7, 2026. The system was located near latitude 4.8°N and longitude 88.2°E, around 1,150 km southeast of Karaikal and 1,270 km south-southeast of Chennai. The system is expected to intensify further into a Deep Depression within the next 24 hours and is likely to move west-northwestwards towards the southwest Bay of Bengal over the next 48 hours.

Meanwhile, cyclonic circulations over the east-central Arabian Sea, Lakshadweep region and the Comorin area have weakened, the weather agency said.

Adding to the outlook, popular weather blogger Pradeep John noted that January 2026 is expected to record excess rainfall across Tamil Nadu. Historical data supports this trend, with January rainfall showing significant variation over the past five years. While January 2023 saw deficient rainfall at 5.1 mm, years like 2021 (139.3 mm) and 2024 (50.5 mm) recorded excess to super excess rainfall. So far, Tamil Nadu has received 7.8 mm of rainfall in January 2026 (till January 5), indicating that rainfall activity is likely to pick up further in the days ahead.