Night of deluge: 46.6mm rain swamps Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: The city broke a 100-year-old record of highest rainfall received in a single day for the month of December after 46.6mm rainfall was recorded, surpassing the earlier record of 44.5mm rain on December 1, 1918.The sudden downpour also listed the city as the rainiest location in the country on the day by Skymet, a private weather forecasting agency.“The city does not record such heavy rains during this time of the year. In fact, the average rainfall for the months also stands at 4.9mm. These unexpected rains were a result of a trough that was running from Chhattisgarh to south interior Karnataka across Telangana,” explained Mahesh Palawat, chief meteorologist at Skymet. The heavy rainfall led to a drop in mercury levels.According to the Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS), Bollarum received highest rainfall of 77.5 mm followed by Pashamylaram 65.5 mm, Malkajgiri 64 mm, Shapur Nagar 56.5 mm, Srinagar Colony 53.5 mm. Areas such as BHEL Factory, Balanagar, Begumpet, Madhapur, Kapra, Maitrivanam, Narayanaguda also received upto 4 cm rainfall in a span of 12 hours. Rainfall in the surrounding districts was much higher.Heavy rainfall has also been attributed to a deep depression over southeast Bay of Bengal. The Indian Meteorological Department, Hyderabad predicts that the depression is very likely to intensify further into a cyclonic storm during next 24 hours and into a severe cyclonic storm in subsequent 36 hours. “Rainfall situation over Hyderabad & north Telangana is not due to cyclone Phethai. Occurrence of rain due to cyclone will probably commence from December 16,” said Naga Ratna, head of forecasting, IMD, Hyderabad.