Rainfall likely over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry today: RMC

Chennai: Rainfall is likely at isolated locations over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal on Tuesday, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) said in its latest weather bulletin.

According to the RMC, a low-pressure area over the southwest Bay of Bengal crossed the northeastern Sri Lanka coast near Mullaitivu on the evening of January 10 and has since weakened into a low-level circulation over south coastal Tamil Nadu and the adjoining Gulf of Mannar.

Due to this system, light to moderate rain is likely at isolated places across Tamil Nadu today, with a few places in south Tamil Nadu expected to receive rainfall. Isolated rain is also forecast over Puducherry and Karaikal, accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning at one or two locations.

The RMC said heavy rainfall is likely at one or two places in Cuddalore, Ariyalur, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, Pudukkottai districts and the Karaikal region.

For the coming days, dry weather is likely to prevail over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal from January 15 to 18, the bulletin added.

Near-zero temperatures freeze Rajasthan, Haryana

As fog floated across cityscapes and open grounds in northern states, the winter weighed much heavier, pushing mercury down to near-freezing temperatures in many areas, which experienced the coldest night of the season.=

Haryana's Gurugram and Punjab's Bathinda recorded a low of 0.6 degrees Celsius, while Fatehpur in Rajasthan's Sikar district crossed the freezing point threshold to reach minus 0.4 degrees, the local meteorological departments said on Monday.

Near sub-zero temperatures were reported from the NCR region, including in Faridabad and Rewari, leading to ground frost. A layer of ice covered the windshields of some vehicles parked outside homes in Gurugram and turned dry grass brittle. The frost was particularly visible in rural areas on farm boundaries and vehicle windows.

According to official records, Gurugram recorded a low of 0 degrees Celsius on January 11, 1971. However, it cannot be said if Sunday night's temperature is an all-time low for the city, as data for every year is not available.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that severe cold and dense fog conditions are likely to persist across North India in the coming days.