Depression in Bay of Bengal to turn into cyclonic storm in next 48 hours

Bhubaneswar: The local Met office is yet to confirm about the movement of the depression which is formed over south-south-east Bay of Bengal and centred at  310 km  to the southwest of Port Blair.

As informed by Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, head of the Cyclonic Warning Centre, to the media today, the depression will move in northwest direction and intensify into a deep depression in the next 24 hours and thereafter it will turn into a cyclonic storm in the next 24 hours.

“Under its influence, there has been in Andaman and Nicobar Islands with a wind speed of 40-50 kmph. We are not yet sure as to on which area of the east coast the cyclonic storm will have the land fall. We are constantly monitoring the movement,” he added.

Director, Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, Dr Sarat Chandra Sahu said the depression now centred from 1200 km off the Gopalpur coast. The movement of the depression in the last six hours was towards the north with a wind speed of around 10 kmph.

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“As per modular indicator, the depression will initially move in west-north-west direction and then is expected to move in the north-west direction. There is a possibility that the depression will turn into a deep depression in the next 24 hours and then a cyclonic storm in the subsequent 24 hours. But if it moves in the north-west direction, it will cross the Andhra Pradesh coast. But nothing can be correctly predicted right now. The exact direction of the deep depression would be known only in the next 24 hours,” Sahu pointed out.

Asked about the possibility of rainfall in Odisha, he said it depends through which area of the Andhra Pradesh coast the cyclonic storm will cross. “If it crosses Machhlipatnam, then there is least possibility of rainfall in Odisha. But if it crosses Vishakhapatnam and its nearby areas, there would be rainfall in south and coastal Odisha,” he informed.