The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday said that Chennai received intense overnight rain, and there was a cloudburst over Manali in northern part of Tamil Nadu’s capital city.

Manali New, Manali Town and Wimco Nagar recorded 27 cm, 26 cm and 23 cm of rain respectively in 24 hours till 8.30 am on Sunday, the IMD said, adding, “There were six reports of rain spells of over 10 cm/hr that qualify the WMO (World Meteorological Organisation) and & IMD’s definition of cloud burst …”

The Met department declares a cloudburst when an area receives 100 mm or more rainfall within an hour over a small area (20–30 sqkm).

Some flights scheduled to arrive at the Chennai airport were diverted to Bengaluru but the passengers were flown to the city after the weather was clear, according to airport authorities.

As per the Regional Meteorological Centre bulletin, Chennai received an intense rain between 10pm to 12midnight on Saturday, with North Chennai receiving the extremely heavy rainfall.

Independent weather blogger Pradeep John said, “The radar data and station records confirm that some pockets of North Chennai received well above this threshold, making it a classic cloudburst event.”

He said it is a historic August for Chennai, with 100 mm rainfall recorded thrice this month on August 22, 23 and 31.

“Such a sequence has never occurred in the city’s history,” John added.

Chennai’s August rainfall at Nungambakkam station has already crossed 200 mm.

The southwest monsoon remains active over northern Tamil Nadu. The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) forecast light to moderate rain over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal in the next 24 hours, with wind speeds of 40–50 kmph.

Some flights scheduled to arrive at the Chennai airport were diverted to Bengaluru but the passengers were flown to the city after the weather was clear, according to airport authorities.