Cyclone Asani to change course, miss Odisha-Andhra coast: IMD
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast the cyclonic storm Asani, forming in the Bay of Bengal, is likely to miss Odisha and Andhra Pradesh coasts. The cyclone is expected to re-curve and change the course from May 10, it said. The weather department is keeping a constant eye on the storm as it is yet to be ascertained where it would make landfall.
- A deep depression in the southeast Bay of Bengal reportedly moved west-northwestward and intensified into cyclone Asani—named by Sri Lanka—on Sunday. Asani means wrath or anger in Sinhalese.
- Earlier, the cyclone was expected to make landfall between Andhra's Visakhapatnam and Odisha's Bhubaneswar.
- However, the IMD has now predicted it is likely to change its path and miss the coasts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
To note, in a special bulletin, the IMD earlier already predicted the depression could move northwestward and develop into a cyclone storm on Sunday in the east-central Bay of Bengal. "It is also likely to continue to move northwestwards till May 10 [Tuesday] evening and reach west-central and adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal off north Andhra Pradesh and Odisha coasts," the bulletin had said.
IMD officials have predicted neither Odisha nor Andhra Pradesh would be affected by the cyclone. "After moving north-north-eastwards, the system will weaken in the sea," HT quoted senior scientist Uma Shankar Das as saying. "It may have the same intensity as Cyclone Jawad, which had formed over the Bay of Bengal in December last year but weakened...and caused rainfall at [Odisha's] Paradip," he said.
The wind speed will likely hover between 40-80km/h but may intensify on Tuesday, reaching 80-90km/h and gusting up to 100km/h, the IMD reportedly said. The wind speed on Wednesday may touch 40-50km/h over the coastal districts of north Andhra Pradesh and coastal districts of Odisha, gusting up to 60km/h, according to the weather department.
Fishermen were advised not to venture into the Andaman Sea and the east-central and southeast Bay of Bengal on Saturday, the central Bay of Bengal on Monday-Tuesday, and the northwest Bay of Bengal from Tuesday-Thursday. Meanwhile, 175 specialist Odisha Fire Services teams were formed to be deployed in areas likely to be impacted, according to Odisha's Director General of Police, Fire Services, Santosh Upadhyay.
