Another cyclonic storm brewing over Bay of Bengal, likely to hit Andhra Pradesh by November 3

Days after Andhra Pradesh was battered by Cyclone Arnab, high speed winds are expected to hit the coastal state by November 3 after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Saturday that a low pressure area in the Bay of Bengal was intensifying and is likely turn into a cyclone by November 2.

The latest cyclone threat comes days after Cyclone Arnab wreaked havoc in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha (Photo for representation) (AFP)It is likely to make landfall on the Andhra Pradesh coastline in the early hours of November 3, IMD’s director general Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said, adding that winds of 80-90 km/hr – gusting up to 100 km/hr are likely.

If the latest storm fully develops into a cyclone, it will be called Murasu, meaning ‘drum’ in Tamil, a name proposed by India. “At present, we expect this to form into a cyclonic storm. Once formed, it will be named as Murasu.

There is a slight possibility it may turn into a severe cyclonic storm too, but at present, our forecast is for a cyclonic storm, which should hit the Andhra coastline on the morning of November 3,” Mohapatra said. In its national bulletin, the IMD said at 5:30 pm, the depression over the southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Andaman Sea moved west-northwestwards at a speed of 30 kmph over the past six hours.

As of 5.30 pm on October 31, it was centred over the southeast Bay of Bengal, around 960 km east-southeast of Chennai, 980 km southeast of Visakhapatnam, 1,030 km southeast of Machilipatnam and 1,080 km east-southeast of Ongole in Andhra Pradesh.

The system is likely to move west-northwestwards and intensify into a deep depression over the southeast Bay of Bengal by midnight on October 31. It is expected to further strengthen into a cyclonic storm on November 1 and a severe cyclonic storm over the west-central Bay of Bengal by November 2.

The cyclone is forecast to bring isolated spells of extremely heavy rainfall over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam November 2, with very heavy rainfall expected on November 3 as well. “Isolated very heavy rainfall is also likely over Rayalaseema on both these days,” the IMD said.

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