Kolkata, Oct 25 (IANS) The Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata on Sunday said there would be no direct impact of Cyclone ‘Arnab’ in West Bengal. However, under its influence, scattered rain along with thunderstorms will occur from October 27 to 30.
The Meteorological Office said the depression that has formed over the east-central and adjacent southeast Bay of Bengal is moving southeast at a speed of eight kilometres per hour. By 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, its position was 470 kilometres north-northwest of Srivijayapuram in Andaman, 860 kilometres east-southeast of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, 950 kilometres east-southeast of Kakinada, 1,060 kilometres east of Machilipatnam and 1,130 kilometres east of Bapatla.
On Sunday, it will gradually move southwards and turn west-north-westwards over the east-central Bay of Bengal. After that, it will move in that direction and turn into a cyclone by Monday morning. If the cyclone forms, it will be named ‘Arnab’ and is going to gather more strength over the sea and turn into a severe cyclone by Tuesday morning.
The severe cyclone may gradually move north-westwards and take the form of a very severe cyclone. It will reach the Andhra Pradesh coast on Wednesday morning. The cyclone is going to make landfall on the Andhra Pradesh coast between Vapatala and Visakhapatnam in an ‘extremely severe’ form by Wednesday afternoon. At that time, the storm speed will be 115 to 125 kilometres per hour, and may reach 140 kilometres per hour.
Due to the influence of the low-pressure system and cyclone, strong winds will blow over the east-central and southeast Bay of Bengal. The wind speed has started increasing over the sea since Sunday.
An alert has been issued on the coast of West Bengal from Tuesday, and fishermen have been asked to stay away from the sea after Tuesday. Those who are there have been asked to return by Tuesday. The wind speed will be 35 to 55 kilometres per hour from Tuesday on the coast of West Bengal. The sea will be rough due to the influence of the low-pressure system and the cyclone.
Heavy rain will occur in some districts of South Bengal due to the influence of the Cyclone. Heavy rain is likely in South 24 Parganas, East Midnapore, West Midnapore and Jhargram districts on Wednesday and Thursday. Apart from this, heavy rain is likely in Purulia and Bankura on Thursday.
Scattered rain, thunderstorms and lightning are likely in Kolkata, Howrah and Hooghly on Wednesday and Thursday. It will continue in North 24 Parganas, East Burdwan, West Burdwan, Birbhum, Murshidabad and Nadia districts from Wednesday to Saturday.
In North Bengal, heavy rain is likely in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts from Thursday. Scattered rain with thunderstorms and lightning will occur in the remaining North districts. There will be no major change in the temperature in West Bengal for the next three days. After that, the mercury may drop by two to three degrees.
The minimum temperature in Kolkata on Sunday morning was 23.4 degrees Celsius, 0.4 degrees above normal. The maximum temperature in the city on Saturday was 31.2 degrees Celsius, 0.5 degrees below normal.
–IANS
sch/dpb
