Visakhapatnam: Cyclone Vardah is very likely to intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm in the next 12 hours and is expected to make landfall on the AP coast between Nellore and Machilipatnam on Monday afternoon. It is likely to weaken before landfall.
Vardah lay centred over southeast Bay of Bengal about 990 km southeast of Vizag, 1,090 km east-southeast of Machilipatnam and 250 km west-northwest of Port Blair on Friday evening. The system is very likely to move initially northwestwards, then west-northwestwards and cross the AP coast.
Vardah is the Arabic and Urdu word for “Rose”, a name suggested by Pakistan in the comprehensive nomenclature list for cyclones in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. The system, which was moving slowly, was expected to be intensified into a severe cyclonic storm on Friday midnight or in the wee hours on Saturday.
The weatherman predicted that Nellore, Kadapa and Chittoor districts of AP and some districts of Tamil Nadu would be affected.
