Very severe cyclonic storm Arnab is crossing the Andhra Pradesh coast, and the landfall process will continue for the next three hours, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Wednesday.
Maximum sustained winds of 125-135 kmph, gusting to 150 kmph, are expected during this period.
The update came in Special Bulletin-16, issued by the IMD's Bhubaneswar centre. It carries a red message, the highest level of alert in the department's colour-coded warning system.
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Where The Storm Is
At 2:30 a.m. IST, the system lay over the west-central Bay of Bengal, close to the Andhra Pradesh coast, near 16.4°N and 82.0°E. That put it about 30 km east of Narsapur in Andhra Pradesh and 45 km south-southwest of Yanam, a Puducherry enclave on the Andhra coast.
It was also 70 km south-southwest of Kakinada, 90 km east-northeast of Machilipatnam and 170 km east-northeast of Bapatla.
The cyclone had moved slowly northwestwards at just 3 kmph over the preceding three hours. The IMD said the centre is now very close to the coastline.
Expected Crossing
The storm is very likely to continue northwestwards and cross the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to the south of Yanam. The IMD expects it to remain a very severe cyclonic storm at crossing.
The spiral band in its northern sector has already moved inland, and the system is continuing to interact with the land surface.
Landfall is a process rather than a single moment: it begins when the storm's centre nears the coast and ends once the centre has fully crossed.
Odisha Records Rain
Rainfall has already been recorded to the north. In the 24 hours ending 4:30 a.m. hrs IST on 28 October, Gopalpur received 94 mm, Puri 67 mm, Bhubaneswar 38 mm and Chandbali 22.4 mm.
The bulletin's subject line also refers to a post-landfall outlook for Andhra Pradesh and adjoining south Odisha coasts, indicating that the effects of the system are expected to extend beyond the landfall zone.
Under Radar Watch
The IMD said the system is under continuous surveillance by the Doppler Weather Radar at Machilipatnam, which tracks the storm's structure and rainfall intensity as it comes ashore.
Cyclones forming over the Bay of Bengal in the post-monsoon season, from October to December, regularly affect India's east coast, including Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
A very severe cyclonic storm packs sustained winds of well over 100 kmph, with the potential for damage from strong gusts, heavy rain and coastal flooding.
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