On Tuesday, Chennai recorded 67 mm of rainfall till 8.30 a.m.,making it the second highest for a single day in the month of May. The city recorded 109.7 mm of rainfall on May 20, 2010.

As per Skymet, "a private weather forecaster, the intensity of rain is likely to increase in a few parts of the city from May 17, accompanied by high-velocity winds over Chennai and other coastal areas".

"Movement of massive rain bands towards southern Tamil Nadu from southwest Bay of Bengal has been witnessed. Due to this, the delta region, Gulf of Mannar and southern Tamil Nadu have been put under rain alert and Chennai might receive heavy rain, earlier than expected, in the coming weeks, including showers on the day of the Assembly election", said R. Pradeep John, who runs the blog Tamil Nadu Weatherman.