Chennai: Cyclone Senyar continues to weaken, but a fresh storm is brewing in the Bay of Bengal.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a bulletin on Thursday that a deep depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal and the adjoining Sri Lanka coast has intensified into Cyclone Ditwah.
The system, which has been steadily strengthening over the past several hours, is “very likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm within 12 hours”, and is expected to move towards the coasts of north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh over the next two days.
The timing of landfall has still not been ascertained, but heavy rain, strong winds of 80-90 kmph and rough seas are expected Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh coasts.
The IMD has urged coastal districts of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh to stay alert.
The cyclone is currently located around 90 km south-southeast of Batticaloa (Sri Lanka), 120 km northeast of Hambantota (Sri Lanka), 200 km south-southeast of Trincomalee, 610 km south-southeast of Puducherry and 700 km south-southeast of Chennai.
Most models show the weather system lingering over the same region for the next 24 hours before gaining strength.
IMD expects the system to continue moving in a north-northwesterly direction, tracking along the Sri Lanka coast before emerging over the southwest Bay of Bengal. The forecast as of now is that the system will reach the waters off north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh by the early hours of November 30.
As for Cyclone Senyar, which was active over Strait of Malacca and parts of northeast Indonesia, IMD said it will weaken into a deep depression before drifting eastwards and fading into a low-intensity system by Thursday evening.
However, even a weakened Cyclone Senyar will cause isolated heavy rain over Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the next couple of days, IMD said. Fishermen in coastal states have been advised to stay ashore and while residents have been asked to monitor updates as the Bay of Bengal gears up for a second storm in quick succession.
