Thiruvananthapuram: Cyclone ‘Fani’ is very likely to intensify into a “severe cyclonic storm” in the next 12 hours and further soar into a “very severe cyclonic storm” in the next 24 hours, the cyclone warning division of the MeT department said on Sunday.
In its 1 pm bulletin, it said ‘Fani’ currently lays over 745 km east-southeast of Trincomalee (Sri Lanka), 1,050 km southeast of Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and 1,230 kilometres south-southeast of Machilipatnam (Andhra Pradesh).
“It is very likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm during the next 12 hours and into a very severe cyclonic storm during subsequent 24 hours,” the IMD said.
Heavy falls at isolated places are very likely over Kerala on Monday and Tuesday.
It will not make landfall in Tamil Nadu, but may bring light rain in some northern parts, it said.
Meanwhile, the Kerala State Disaster Mana-gement Authority (KS-DMA) has put Ernak-ulam, Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode and Wayanad districts on yellow alert for Monday and Tuesday.
As per the IMD forecast, all seven districts are likely to get heavy and isolated rainfall ranging from 64.5 mm to 115.5 mm on Tuesday.
KSDMA advised travellers to avoid hill areas, especially during the night. On Monday, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode and Wayanad would receive heavy isolated rainfall while all other districts would receive light to heavy rain.
Earlier, Fani was expected to cause heavy rains in northern Tamil Nadu, including Chennai.
The Regional Meteorological Centre in Chennai said cyclone threat to Tamil Nadu has abated.
“There is no chance of Fani crossing the Tamil Nadu coast," director of Area Cyclone Warning Centre S. Balachandran told reporters in Chennai.
Light to moderate rainfall is very likely at a few places over north coastal Andhra Pradesh and south coastal Odisha on May 2. It is expected to increase in intensity with heavy rainfall over coastal Odisha from May 3.
Strong winds with speed reaching 30-40 kmph gusting to 50 kmph are likely to commence along and off the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coast, Comorin area and Gulf of Mannar from Sunday. It will intensify a day later, the bulletin said.
"It is very likely to become squally with wind speed reaching 50-60 kmph and gusting to 70 kmph from Tuesday morning along north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh coasts. Strong wind with speed reaching 30-40 kmph and gusting to 50 kmph is likely to commence along and off Kerala coast,” it said.
Sea conditions are expected to be “rough to very rough” along and off Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and south Andhra Pradesh coasts from Monday to Wednesday.
The sea conditions will be “very rough” along and off the north Andhra Pradesh coast from May 1-3 and along off Odisha coast from May 2 onwards. The IMD has also advised fishers along the coasts of Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry not to venture into the sea and those in the deep sea to return.
