Bhubaneswar: With cyclone Gulab making landfall over north coastal Andhra Pradesh and adjoining south coastal Odisha, Puri reported a maximum wind speed of 31 kmph and Gopalpur at 26 kmph.
Bhubaneswar centres of India Meteorological Department (IMD) in its latest bulletin said the cyclonic storm Gulab over northwest and adjoining westcentral Bay of Bengal moved nearly westwards with a speed of 24 kmph during last 6 hours and lay centered over northwest and adjoining westcentral Bay of Bengal near latitude 18.4°N and longitude 84.6°E, near Gopalpur in Odisha and Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
As per the latest meteorological observations, the cloud bands have touched the coastal regions and thus the landfall process has commenced over north coastal Andhra Pradesh and adjoining south coastal Odisha.
The system is lying close to coast and the eye of the storm is about 30 km to the east of the landfall point. The landfall which commenced at 6 pm will continue for next 2-3 hours.
The cyclone is likely to cross north Andhra Pradesh-south Odisha coasts between Kalingapatnam and Gopalpur, about 25 km to the north of Kalingapatnam with maximum sustained wind speed of 75-85 kmph gusting to 95 kmph during next 3 hours.
A gradual and steady increase in wind speed is being recorded by the coastal stations of south Odisha, since 12.30 PM. Puri reported a maximum wind speed of 31 kmph, followed by Gopalpur at 26 kmph by 6 PM, the Met office said.
The Cyclone is being monitored by Doppler Weather RADAR at Vishakhapatnam as well as by the coastal meteorological observatories. Light to moderate rainfall in association with the inner bands of the system has commenced over south coastal Odisha and coastal Andhra Pradesh.
