BHUBANESWAR: The deep depression over Bay of Bengal continued to build on Tuesday as it tracked north-westwards towards Odisha coast, gradually making the transition to cyclonic storm Dana over the next 12 hours.
Even as suspense over the impending cyclone’s landfall continued, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said coastal districts of the state will start experiencing rain from Wednesday under influence of the system which was located about 690 km south-east of Paradip.
IMD DG Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said the system will track north-westwards and intensify into a severe storm over north-west Bay of Bengal by Thursday morning.
The national agency continued to provide a large band for the storm’s landfall between Puri and Sagar Island (West Bengal) on Thursday night and Friday with wind speed reaching 100 km to 110 km per hour and gusting up to 120 km. However, the coordinates suggested that it may cross the coast between Kendrapara and Bhadrak districts. Some models even suggested the cyclone’s track may move further north up.
Another weather agency said the system will cross near Dhamra and head southwards.
Sources said clarity on the track and landfall will emerge on Wednesday which will help the state government in deployment of relief and restoration strategy.
Private weather forecaster Skymet said weather intensity in the peripheral regions was not uniformly distributed. As of now, the cyclone’s possible cone extends from Puri to Diamond Harbour in West Bengal. The exact location of its landfall will become clear within the next 24 hours.
“The outer cloud bands and the outer ring of strong winds of the system will start affecting the coastal parts of Odisha and West Bengal from Wednesday onwards,” it said.
On Tuesday, the well marked low pressure area over east-central Bay of Bengal concentrated into a depression and moved in west-northwest direction with a speed of 7 km per hour before intensifying into a deep depression.
With the system approaching the coast, light to moderate rainfall is likely to occur at many places in coastal districts, while heavy showers may lash Balasore, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur and Puri districts on Wednesday.
As per the IMD’s forecast, extremely heavy rainfall (over 200 mm) is expected in Mayurbhanj, Cuttack, Jajpur, Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada and Jagatsinghpur districts on Thursday and at a few places in Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Balasore and Bhadrak districts on Friday.
The national weather forecaster said the storm’s maximum impact is likely to be over Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Jajpur, Cuttack and Dhenkanal districts.