The India Meteorological Department on Tuesday issued an alert for a possible cyclone that could develop early next week over the Bay of Bengal.
The IMD had on Saturday dismissed as ‘rumours’ some reports based on a US weather forecast model that a ‘super cyclone’ could hit India’s eastern coast, and stressed that it has not issued any such advisory.
However, on Tuesday morning, the IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre in Kolkata informed of a cyclonic circulation that developed over the south Andaman Sea and its neighbourhood on Monday. By today morning, it was located over the North Andaman Sea.
“Under its influence, a low-pressure area is likely to form over south-east and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal during the next 48 hours. It is likely to move in a west-northwest direction and concentrate into a depression by the morning of October 22 over central Bay of Bengal. It is very likely to intensify further into a cyclonic storm over west-central Bay of Bengal subsequently,” said an official statement issued by the IMD’s RWFC in Kolkata.
The rumours about the ‘super cyclone’ emerged after a PhD scholar from Saskatchewan University in Canada made a forecast that such a weather anomaly could hit the Indian coast. He even named the ‘super cyclone’ as Sitrang.
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“It is too early to comment on its path and intensity. We are monitoring,” said the official.
Source: Hindustan Times
