Monsoonal rains over the central hills

The North-East monsoon has resulted in heavy rains over the central hills from yesterday, the Meteorology Department said.

The Duty Meteorologist said the maximum rainfall of 61.7 mm had been recorded from Ambewela while in Trincomalee there were heavy rains of up to 60.02 mm with rains of up to 52.08 mm in Jaffna during the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the Disaster Management Center said two spill gates of the Upper-Kotmale Dam had been opened because of the rising water levels.

The Met Department said Upper-Kotmale had a rainfall of 9.7mm while Kotmale had a rainfall of 5.4 during the past 24 hours but the heavy rains in the catchment areas last week might have been the reason for the rising water levels.
It said winds upto 70-80kmph could be expected during the next 24 hours over the seas off the South-Eastern coastline. (Thilanka Kanakarathna)