Even as the peripheral clouds of the tropical storm system Gulab stretches from south Odisha to Kendrapada, the dense cloud bands of the system are going to enter the State skylines within the next few hours (see the main image), especially in the districts of Ganjam and Gajapati. The impact is to be felt in an hour or two from now.
Live Updates: Cyclonic Storm Gulab Nears Andhra And Odisha Coasts
GUL-AAB Anatomy
Though Cyclone Gulab's blurred eye image has been trapped by the satellite image, when only intense storms carry a well-defined eye, the structure of the system carries a southern bias.
As per the system's anatomy, southeast and southwest sides occupy a larger radial distance. While the southeast side covers over 129 km (now in the seas), the southwest area is measured at around 111 km (also in seas).
Similarly, the northeast area of the system is expanded up to an area measuring nearly 56 km. But the northwest expanse is measured at only 18 km, reveals data of the US Navy.
The above anatomy of the Cyclone Gulab shows that heavy rains accompanied by around 63km/hr wind will lash the land areas that come under the vast expanse of the cyclonic system.
Gulab's Morphological Dividend For Odisha
Given the system carries vorticity (rotation) with it, a constant wind speed of over 63km/hr will lash up to around 56 km area to the northeast of the system, from the place of landfall.
As Odisha lies to the system's northeast and northwest side, the packing winds of the system are unlikely to sweep deep in Odisha.
While high-speed winds (over 65km/hr) are predicted to sweep the districts of Srikakulam and Vijayanagram in Andhra Pradesh from Sunday evening onwards till the completion of the landfall process, as per model forecasts landfall process will start from evening onwards, the districts in Odisha like Gajapati, Ganjam, Koraput, Malkangiri and Rayagada that lie in the northeast and northwest side of the system will also feel the impact.
Since the system's northwest expanse is very less, the brunt will be first felt up to the districts of Gajapati and Ganjam - where a sustained wind speed of over 40-50km/hr may be recorded in the evening hours today.
However, after landfall, as the system keeps moving in the west direction, the Koraput district that will come under the northeast shadow of Gulab, is predicted to measure a sustained highspeed wind of over 55km/hr (in the midnight hours on Sunday).
Other districts in Odisha will not feel the major impact of cyclone Gulab, as the north stretch of the system is small vis-a-vis the southern breadth.