BHUBANESWAR: Even as Odisha struggles to tackle the devastation caused by Arnab, another cyclone building up in the Bay of Bengal may bring more misery to the state.
The fresh tropical storm, which will be named Murasu (drum in Tamil) as it takes shape of a cyclone, is likely to have similar intensity and track to its predecessor, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Saturday.
The national weather forecaster said a depression over the southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Andaman Sea moved west-northwestwards at a speed of 30 kmph in the past six hours.
The system is likely to continue moving west-northwestwards and intensify into a deep depression over the same region by late Saturday night. It is expected to develop into a cyclone by Sunday morning and strengthen into a severe cyclonic storm over the west-central Bay of Bengal on Monday, the IMD said.
According to the weather body, the cyclone is likely to cross the south Andhra Pradesh coast between Nellore and Narsapur by Tuesday morning. Wind speeds are expected to reach 100-110 kmph, gusting up to 120 kmph.
In Odisha, the storm may trigger heavy to very heavy rainfall in Rayagada, Koraput, Malkangiri, Gajapati and Ganjam districts on Tuesday and Wednesday. Light to moderate rain or thundershowers are likely at most places across the state.