Three separate weather warnings were issued on Tuesday morning, and together they describe one system: an atmospheric disturbance sitting close to Sri Lanka that is dropping heavy rain on the south-west and raising both lightning and landslide risk with it.
Landslide warnings, with named divisions
The National Building Research Organisation issued Level 1 landslide early warnings for parts of three districts, in effect until 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, the Daily Mirror reported.
The areas named are:
- Colombo District — Seethawaka
- Kalutara District — Dodangoda, Bulathsinhala, Beruwala, Ingiriya, Mathugama, Palindanuwara and Walallawita
- Kegalle District — Warakapola and Ruwanwella
The NBRO asked residents in those areas to remain vigilant for possible landslide risk.
Kalutara is the district to watch. It took the island’s heaviest fall of this spell — 119.2mm in the 24 hours to Monday morning — and Walallawita, one of the divisions now under warning, is the Divisional Secretariat the Disaster Management Centre named as the site of that reading. Ground already saturated by Monday’s rain is what turns a second day of heavy falls into a slope-failure risk rather than just a drainage problem.
Severe lightning
Separately, the Department of Meteorology issued a severe lightning advisory covering the North-central, North-western, Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Uva and Southern provinces, and the Ampara, Batticaloa, Vavuniya and Mannar districts, the Daily Mirror reported.
Thundershowers are likely at several places in those areas, with temporary localised strong winds possible. The public was advised to take precautions against lightning.
Rain above 100mm
Heavy falls above 100mm can be expected in several areas including the Western Province, Meteorology Department Director General Ajith Wijayamannage said, according to NewsFirst. He attributed the conditions to an atmospheric disturbance in the lower atmosphere near Sri Lanka.
Hiru News gives the area list the Daily Mirror’s lightning advisory does not: cloudy skies with occasional showers or thundershowers across the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Uva and Southern provinces and the Ampara and Batticaloa districts, with falls above 100mm at some places within them. Showers or thundershowers may occur elsewhere on the island after 1:00 p.m.
Note that the two lists are not the same and are not meant to be: the heavy-rain area is the narrower south-western band, while the lightning advisory reaches further north into the North-central and North-western provinces and up to Vavuniya and Mannar.
The drought has not gone away
Wijayamannage added that several drought-affected areas may also see rain today — the detail that connects these warnings to the other half of the country’s weather picture.
Sri Lanka is in the middle of what the Meteorology Department has called a developing El Niño potentially the strongest in 75 years, with more than 160,000 people affected across eight districts. The island is running a drought emergency and a flood-and-landslide warning at the same time, in different places.
Rain of this intensity is not a straightforward remedy for the dry districts. More than 100mm falling in a single afternoon runs off rather than recharging soil and reservoirs — and on the slopes of Kalutara and Kegalle, it is the hazard itself.
Not reported
No outlet gives an accumulation total for Tuesday, an updated national figure for people affected, or any report of damage or displacement from the current spell. The NBRO notice does not say what triggers an escalation from Level 1, and none of the reports says whether schools, transport or the expressway network are affected. The Disaster Management Centre hotline is 117.
