Tamil Nadu coast on alert as storm brews in Bay of Bengal; may intensify into Cyclone Fengal
The weather department has also issued an orange alert for Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal on November 21 and 26.
CHENNAI: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued another cyclone alert in the Bay of Bengal, noting that the upper air cyclonic circulation over Indian Ocean is likely to trigger the formation of a low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal on Saturday (November 23). This in turn may intensify into a depression and then into a cyclone.
The weather department has also issued an orange alert for Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal on November 21 and 26. The orange alert implies ‘very heavy rainfall’ measuring between 115.6 mm and 204.4 mm.
According to the ‘very heavy rainfall’ warning issued by the weathermen on Thursday (November 21), an upper air cyclonic circulation has formed over the equatorial Indian Ocean off Sumatra coast and adjoining south Andaman Sea in lower tropospheric levels at 8.30 am. Under its influence, a low-pressure area is likely to develop over the southeast Bay of Bengal on Saturday (November 23).
Over the next two days, it is expected to continue moving west-northwestwards and intensify into a depression over central parts of south Bay of Bengal, the IMD said in its bulletin on Thursday morning.
If the depression strengthens and becomes a cyclone, it will be the season's second after Cyclone Dana and will be called 'Fengal', a name proposed by Saudi Arabia. The system could impact the eastern coast of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu.
There is also a high probability of the cyclone crossing the Chennai coast, said Thanthi TV, quoting weather bloggers.
However, the path and impact area of the cyclone over coastal Tamil Nadu remains unclear, said weather blogger K Srikanth, who runs the popular social media handle Chennai Rains.
Meanwhile, due to the weather systems brewing in the sea, light to moderate rainfall is likely at a few places in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal on Thursday, along with isolated thunderstorms and lightning, the weather department added.
On November 26, isolated very heavy rainfall is likely over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal, due to which an orange alert has been issued.