A low-pressure area is likely to form over the southeast and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal during the next 48 hours, IMD said
Alow-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into a cyclone after October 22, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday.
A low-pressure area is likely to form over the southeast and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal during the next 48 hours, IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said.
“There is every possibility that the system will further intensify into a cyclonic storm over west-central Bay of Bengal subsequently,” he said.
The senior official said, so far, no forecast on the likely intensity of the cyclone and its path has been made. “Only after the low-pressure forms, we will be in a better position to forecast the areas which will be affected by the cyclone, its intensity and the areas which might get affected, including rainfall,” Mohapatra said.
The storm will be named ‘Cyclone Sitrang’ in case the system intensifies into a cyclonic storm.
The IMD’s statement came days after at least three models, including the European ECMWF, the American GFS and the Australian Access weather model, reported the likelihood of a cyclone hitting the Andhra-Odisha coast (October 24-25). However, the central weather office had not issued a cyclone alert, as officials said it was too early for that.
“A wind circulation, which the international models show will intensify into a cyclone, is likely to form over the north Andaman sea around October 18 and move towards south-west Bay of Bengal and intensify into a low-pressure area by October 20,” the IMD said. It noted that it is unlikely that the weather system will turn into a supercyclone.
Senior weather scientist Umashankar Dash told PTI earlier: “The IMD indicated the formation of cyclonic circulation in the Bay of Bengal between October 14 and October 20, but all cyclonic circulations do not take the shape of the cyclone.”
Odisha Cancels All Leaves of Govt Employees
Ahead of the storm, the Odisha government cancelled the leave of its employees from October 23 to 25 as a precautionary measure ahead of Cyclone Sitrang.
The state government has issued directions to the employees of the districts likely to be affected by the storm not to leave headquarters during the period.
Last week, the Odisha government asked its officials to prepare for possible cyclones over the next two months. Chief Secretary SC Mohapatra directed officials concerned to take all precautionary measures at the state-level cyclone preparedness meeting held last Monday.
