Will cyclone make landfall? IMD issues orange alert for Odisha, Tamil Nadu

The depression over the southeast Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into a cyclone on Monday, moving west-northwest towards the coast of Andhra Pradesh. As of 5:30 a.m. today, it was located about 420 km from Port Blair and around 990–1040 km from major coastal cities including Visakhapatnam, Chennai, Kakinada, and Gopalpur.

The weather agency further added that the system is expected to move west-northwest, strengthen into a deep depression by tomorrow, and develop into a cyclonic storm by the morning of October 27 over the southwest and west-central Bay of Bengal. It is likely to head towards the Andhra Pradesh coast within the next 48 hours.

The weather agency has placed an ‘orange alert’, indicating heavy rainfall, for Odisha and Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu

The IMD has issued an orange alert warning of moderate rain with thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places over Kanyakumari, Tenkasi, Thoothukkudi, Tirunelveli, and other districts of Tamil Nadu. Meanwhile, a yellow alert, indicating light rain, has been placed for Thiruvallur, Chengalpattu, Chennai, and Kanchipuram.

Odisha

The IMD has issued an orange alert for Ganjam, Gajapati, and Rayagada districts, warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning, and winds reaching up to 40 kmph.

Meanwhile, Malkangiri, Koraput, Nawarangpur, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Bolangir, Nuapada, Boudh, Nayagarh, Khurda, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, and Cuttack are expected to experience heavy rain and will remain under a yellow alert.

Additionally, Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Angul, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, and Sonepur have also been placed under a yellow alert for thunderstorms and lightning.

On Tuesday, October 28, the orange alert is likely to be extended to Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Cuttack, Puri, Khurda, Koraput, and Malkangiri, along with Ganjam, Gajapati, and Rayagada.

While the cyclone is not expected to make a direct landfall in Odisha, it is still likely to cause widespread downpours and gusty winds.

Will it make landfall in Andhra Pradesh?

According to a report by Deccan Herald, while the IMD has not yet shared specific details about the cyclone’s path, independent weather bloggers suggest that the system is most likely to make landfall in Andhra Pradesh.

In addition, three other weather systems developing over the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea are expected to bring widespread rainfall to Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka in the coming days.