Cyclone Sitrang likely to cause heavy rains in several states
What's the story
Cyclone Sitrang—formed over India's eastern coast—is predicted to shift direction in the next 12 hours, intensifying over the Bay of Bengal, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). 'Sitrang' is forecast to make landfall in Bangladesh on Tuesday morning between Tinkona Island and Sandwip. Meanwhile, an alert has been issued for the coastlines of Odisha and Bengal due to the probability of rain.
Context
Why does this story matter?
According to reports, if Sitrang intensifies, it will be the first tropical cyclone to form in the Bay of Bengal since October 2018. Cyclone Fani, a category four storm that devastated coastal Odisha in 2019, began near the equator from a tropical depression west of the Indonesian island Sumatra. Some meteorological models predict that Sitrang will take Fani's course.
Bulletin
What did Met Department say?
"The deep depression is likely to move northwestwards during the next 12 hours and intensify into a cyclonic storm over the central Bay of Bengal," IMD stated in its bulletin. "Thereafter, it will move north-northeastwards and cross Bangladesh coast between Tinkona Island and Sandwip close to Barisal around the early morning of October 25," it said.
Twitter Post
Probable track of cyclone shared by IMD on Twitter
The deep depression over eastcentral Bay of Bengal about 640km northwest of Port Blair. To intensify into a cyclonic storm over central Bay of Bengal. To cross Bangladesh coast between Tinkona Island and Sandwip around 25th October early morning. pic.twitter.com/aZzfcNMCQV
— India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) October 23, 2022
Twitter Post
The map shows the limits of impact
Deep Depression in Bay will intensify into #Cyclone #Sitrang in next https://t.co/YxcK0cxh2g expected to cross near Tinkona Highlands(Bangladesh) as a Marginal Cyclone due to Dry air affecting the system.Except South #TN #Kerala remaining parts will continue Dry weather. pic.twitter.com/9zAU1JyUYg
— MasRainman (@MasRainman) October 23, 2022
Warning
Alert issued in Bengal, Odisha
Meanwhile, an alert has been issued for Odisha and Bengal coasts advising fishermen not to venture into the deep sea area of the central Bay of Bengal Saturday onwards, and near the Odisha and Bengal coasts between October 23 and 26 when the cyclone is expected to make landfall. IMD also said that heavy rainfall is expected in both Bengal and Odisha.
Forecast
Heavy rain predicted in parts of West Bengal, northeast states
Meanwhile, isolated areas in the North-24 Parganas and South-24 Parganas districts, Paschim Medinipur and Nadia, may receive "heavy to very high rainfall for the next two days, according to the regional meteorological center in Kolkata. There may be some light rainfall in Kolkata, Howrah, and Hooghly also. Rains have been predicted in parts of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura also.
Name
Cyclone named 'Sitrang' by Thailand
The name Sitrang is given by Thailand which is reportedly an ethnic Thai surname. It is one among the 169 names enlisted by the IMD in 2020. Countries are listed in alphabetic order and they propose a set of names that are neutral to gender, politics, religious faiths, and cultures. The last cyclone, Asani was named by Sri Lanka and now it's Thailand's turn.