Cyclone threat builds over Bay of Bengal, three Odisha districts under orange alert

Bhubaneswar, Nov 15: A depression over the southeast and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm on November 16 and a severe cyclonic storm by November 17, raising the possibility of adverse weather in Odisha from November 18, the regional centre of the Inbdia Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast on Sunday.

According to the IMD, the system was centred over the southeast and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal at 8:30 am on Sunday, near latitude 9.3°N and longitude 86.9°E. It was moving nearly northwards at a speed of 10 kmph.

The depression was located around 630 km east of Trincomalee in Sri Lanka, 690 km west-southwest of Sri Vijaya Puram in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 840 km east-southeast of Chennai, 1,010 km south-southeast of Visakhapatnam and 1,130 km south-southeast of Gopalpur in Odisha.

The weather agency said the system was very likely to move north-northwestwards and intensify into a cyclonic storm over the central parts of the south and adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal on November 16. It is then likely to strengthen into a severe cyclonic storm over the west-central Bay of Bengal on November 17.

Thereafter, the system is likely to intensify further and move north-westwards towards the Andhra Pradesh coast over the following two days. However, the IMD has not specified about its eventual landfall location.

Odisha likely to experience rain, gusty winds

The developing system is also likely to influence weather conditions in Odisha, with rainfall and gusty winds forecast in several districts from November 18.

For the 24-hour period from 8:30 am on November 18 to 8:30 am on November 19, the IMD has issued a yellow warning for heavy rainfall at one or two places in Gajapati, Ganjam and Puri districts.

Thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty surface winds of 40-50 kmph are also likely at isolated places in Baleshwar, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghapur, Kataka, Kendujhar, Mayurbhanj, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri, Khordha and Nayagada districts.

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The weather department has issued an orange warning for Gajapati, Ganjam and Puri for November 19-20, forecasting heavy to very heavy rainfall at one or two places. Thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds reaching 50-60 kmph are also likely in these three districts.

A yellow warning for heavy rainfall has been issued for Baleshwar, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghapur, Kataka, Kendujhar, Mayurbhanj, Kandhamala, Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Khordha and Nayagada districts during the same period.