IMD Says Cyclone Montha to Cross Kakinada on Tuesday Evening
Thereafter, it is likely to move northwest-wards, then north-northwest-wards and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by the morning of Tuesday, October 28.
Visakhapatnam:Cyclone Montha – named after a fragrant flower from Thailand – will have its landfall near the Kakinada coast on the evening of Tuesday, October 28, with gale winds of speed 90 kmph–100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph, according to a bulletin issued by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Amaravati, on Saturday.
Providing details, the report said the depression over southeast Bay of Bengal has moved nearly westwards with a speed of 7 kmph during the morning hours on Saturday. It lay centred about 440 km west-southwest of Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), 970 km southeast of Visakhapatnam , 970 km east-southeast of Chennai , 990 km southeast of Kakinada and 1,040 km south-southeast of Gopalpur (Odisha).
It is likely to move nearly west northwest-wards, intensify into a deep depression by Sunday, and turn into a cyclonic storm over southwest and adjoining west central Bay of Bengal by the following Monday morning.
Thereafter, it is likely to move northwest-wards, then north-northwest-wards and intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by the morning of Tuesday, October 28.
Continuing to move north-northwest-wards, it is very likely to cross the coast around Kakinada in the evening of Tuesday, October 28, as a severe cyclonic storm, the IMD bulletin said.
This will be the second cyclone to develop in October this year, after Cyclone Shakthi that developed off the Gujarat coast in the Arabian Sea.
IMD-Amaravati scientist S. Karunasagar said some areas across the districts of Bapatla, Prakasam, Nellore, YSR Kadapa, Annamayya and Tirupati are expected to receive extremely heavy rainfall on Monday, while regions in Konaseema, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Palnadu, Nandyal and Chittoor districts are likely to experience heavy to very heavy rainfall.
The weather agency predicted that parts of ASR, Anakapalli, Kakinada, East Godavari, Eluru, NTR, Kurnool, Anantapur and Sri Sathya Sai districts will see heavy rainfall on Monday.
On Tuesday, October 28, the day the cyclone crosses the coast, Kakinada, East Godavari, Konaseema, Eluru, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, NTR, Palnadu, Bapatla, Prakasam and YSR Kadapa districts will experience extremely heavy rainfall. Parts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Parvathipuram Manyam, Visakhapatnam, ASR, Anakapalli, Nellore, Tirupati and Nandyal districts will witness heavy to very heavy rainfall on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, October 29, parts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Parvathipuram Manyam, ASR, Anakapalli, Visakhapatnam, Konaseema, Kakinada, East Godavari, West Godavari, Eluru, Krishna, NTR and Guntur districts will record extremely heavy rainfall.