BHUBANESWAR: A few hours have passed since monstrous Cyclone Arnab unleashed its fury over the country’s east coast and a fresh low pressure area is expected to form over the Bay of Bengal on Thursday.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), an upper air cyclonic circulation lay over south Andaman Sea and neighbourhood in lower and middle tropospheric levels. Under its influence, a low pressure is likely to form over the same region during next 24 hours, it said. While the national weather body is yet to share details about the system’s possible intensification and path, most ensemble and artificial intelligence (AI) models have predicted that it will move northwestwards and weaken within two days.
The Global Forecast System (GFS) group of models, has, however, suggested the system’s potential intensification.
AccuWeather International Meteorologist Jason Nicholls also took to X and said that in the wake of Cyclone Arnab, the swirl of clouds over Andaman and Nicobar Islands will develop into a low pressure area during the next day or two. This feature can become a depression before enhancing rains in parts of eastern India early next week, he added.
Independent weather trackers have projected that a fresh low pressure area is likely to emerge over south Andaman sea within 48 hours. It is expected to intensify further into a well-marked low pressure and move west-northwestwards towards north Tamil Nadu and south Andhra Pradesh coasts.
Another weather tracker expressed similar views and said that the fresh low pressure is expected to move towards north Tamil Nadu and south Andhra Pradesh coast.
Weather experts pointed out that tropical cyclones in the North Indian Ocean tend to form closer to the equator during El Nino years. As a result, they are more likely to move towards Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, especially in the month of October.
However, the storms forming in November have the tendency to move upwards towards Odisha and West Bengal coasts. For instance, very severe cyclone Bulbul crossed West Bengal coast in November 2019, said a weather expert.
Meanwhile, heavy rainfall battered parts of Odisha under the impact of Cyclone Arnab since Tuesday. Twin City Bhubaneswar and Cuttack witnessed heavy rains on the day. Due to the inclement weather conditions, three flights from Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) were cancelled.
Two flights to Jeypore and one to Utkela were also suspended because of the deluge and strong winds. While Arnab is expected to weaken further into a deep depression by late Wednesday night, isolated places in Sundargarh, Jharsuguda and Bargarh are likely to experience heavy to very heavy rains in the next 24 hours.
