Cyclonic storm expected to develop over Bay of Bengal by Monday

A low-pressure area is likely to form on Thursday and move west-north-westwards and concentrate into a depression by Saturday morning over the central Bay of Bengal, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. It is likely to intensify further into a cyclonic storm over the west-central Bay of Bengal in the next 48 hours.

The IMD said a trough was running from cyclonic circulation over the north Andaman Sea and neighbourhood to the Tamil Nadu coast across the south Bay of Bengal in lower tropospheric levels. This is expected to bring widespread rainfall with isolated heavy showers and thunderstorms in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal, Kerala, Mahe, south interior Karnataka and Lakshadweep until Saturday.

“Widespread light/moderate rainfall with isolated heavy falls very likely over Andaman and Nicobar Islands during 19th–22nd October 2022. Isolated light rainfall/snowfall over Western Himalayan Region during the next two days. Dry weather is very likely to prevail over most parts of northwest and central India,” the IMD said.

The conditions were also likely to become favourable for further withdrawal of southwest monsoon from more parts of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Odisha.