A man walks down the street during heavy rain on Tuesday. | Photo credit: THULASI KAKKAT
Heavy rain lashed most parts of south Kerala on Tuesday (November 18, 2025), disrupting normal life and causing traffic jams, waterlogging and inconvenience to commuters.
Kayamkulam in Alappuzha recorded a whopping 118.5 mm rainfall during the day. The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) sounded warning sirens in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Alappuzha districts on Tuesday evening after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) upgraded the rain warning issued for these districts from yellow to orange, indicating very heavy rain during the next 24 hours.
A disaster warning called KaWaCHaM (Kerala Warnings, Crisis and Hazard Management system) developed by KSDMA has issued early warning to people in vulnerable areas. The heavy rain was triggered by a low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal. According to the weather bulletin issued by the IMD on Tuesday, a low pressure area with associated cyclonic circulation extending up to 5.6 km above mean sea level lies over the Comorin area and its surroundings. As a result of the system, the rain intensified in the southern districts.
In the following days, rain activity will be muted. However, the rain will pick up by November 22 when another low pressure area forms over the Bay of Bengal. The weather system that will form over the Bay of Bengal by this weekend is likely to intensify and become more pronounced during the next 48 hours, bringing more rain to parts of south and central Kerala and the hilly areas adjacent to the Western Ghats.
Women police personnel brave the heavy rain on duty at East Fort in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday. | Photo credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN
Meanwhile, Kerala’s rain deficit during the month of November was largely bridged by a late surge in the second half of the month, aided by back-to-back systems in the Bay of Bengal. As of Tuesday (November 18), northeast Kerala has a 26% rain deficit, with the state recording 311 mm of rainfall against an average of 423 mm of rainfall during the period. However, the expected surge during the fag at the end of November is expected to significantly reduce the lack of rainfall.
Published – 18 Nov 2025 20:08 IST
