The Department of Meteorology has forecast heavy rainfall of 100–150 mm in parts of five provinces and warned separately of severe lightning in six, the Daily Mirror reported at 11.53 a.m. on Tuesday.
Showers or thundershowers are expected in most parts of the island, which the department attributes to a low-level atmospheric disturbance persisting in the Bay of Bengal near Sri Lanka.
The two warning areas are different lists
This distinction is easy to lose, and the two lists do not match:
- Heavy rainfall of 100–150 mm — some areas of the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Uva and Southern provinces.
- Thundershowers with severe lightning — several areas of the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Uva, North Western and Southern provinces.
The North Western Province appears in the lightning warning but not in the heavy-rain forecast. The other five provinces appear in both.
The department also warned that temporary localised strong winds may occur during thundershowers.
This is the system that was forecast two days ago
On 11 October the department issued an amber advisory for severe lightning and said a low-pressure area was likely to form over the Southeast Bay of Bengal around 13 October. Tuesday’s forecast attributes the island-wide showers to a Bay of Bengal disturbance, on the date named.
The wording is not identical, and the filing does not say so explicitly: the 11 October advisory described a system expected to form, while Tuesday’s describes one persisting near Sri Lanka. The department has not stated that these are the same system, and this report does not assume it.
The rain has already been arriving. On Monday, Sri Sangaraja Mawatha, Kinsey Road and Panchikawatta Road went under water in Colombo and landslide early warnings covered seven districts, with the department saying then that rainfall would increase over the following three days. Tuesday is the second of those three days.
Not reported
The Daily Mirror’s filing does not say when the warning was issued or when it expires, and gives no advisory colour grade. It does not say whether the National Building Research Organisation’s landslide warnings have been extended or widened, whether any district-level flood warning is in force, or what the department expects after Tuesday.
Ada Derana filed twice on the weather on 13 October, under the headlines “Heavy rainfall of around 100-150 mm expected in several provinces” and “Advisory issued for heavy rain”. Its CloudFront block, now in its 24th day, means neither could be read, and neither is cited here.
