The opening day of the men’s Sahara Hockey Champions Trophy tomorrow is likely to be a rainy one with cyclonic storm Fanoos heading for Chennai.

The cyclone is currently centred about 600km east-south-east of Chennai in the Bay of Bengal and is likely to bring rain to the city on Saturday.

The Deccan Chronicle newspaper in Chennai is reporting that the meteorological department reported the deep depression changed into a cyclonic storm on Wednesday morning as it headed west towards the south east coast of India. Widespread rainfall with isolated spells of heavy rain has been forecast for the weekend.

If the cyclone reaches landfall as expected, it will be the fifth time this season that Chennai has been hit by heavy rains. City officials have only just recovered from the last bout of wet weather which caused damaged roads, power outages and overflowing canals.

The area “may also experience strong winds with speeds of more than 60km/h. Fishermen have also been advised not to venture into the sea, as the sea is expected to be rough”, the newspaper said.