Social media was flooded with visuals showing a rotating column of air beneath dark storm clouds, with some users and even a private weather tracker describing it as a possible tornado—an extremely rare phenomenon for southern India. However, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) rejected these claims, clarifying that no tornado had been recorded.
According to the IMD’s regional forecasting centre in Chennai, the weather event was driven by an east–west trough extending around 3.1 km above sea level over southern Tamil Nadu. This atmospheric condition led to intense localised convection, resulting in strong updrafts, dust lifting, and gusty surface winds.
