Bhubaneswar: The Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Arnab over the westcentral Bay of Bengal has come closer to the Odisha coast, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its latest bulletin.
As per the IMD bulletin, the cyclone moved west-northwestwards with a speed of 25 kmph during the past six hours and lay centered at 02:30 hours IST today near latitude 15.9°N and longitude 85.4°E.
At present, the system is centered 380 km south of Gopalpur (Odisha), 300 km southeast of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 360 km east-southeast of Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), 460 km east of Machilipatnam, 530 km east of Bapatla and 920 km west-northwest of Sri Vijaya Puram.
The IMD has issued a Red Warning for Andhra Pradesh and adjoining South Odisha coasts. It is very likely to continue to move west-northwestwards till evening of October 27 and thereafter, move northwestwards and cross Andhra Pradesh & Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to Yanam as a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm with maximum sustained wind speed of 115-125 kmph gusting to 140 kmph by forenoon of October 28, 2026.
Though the landfall is expected between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, South Odisha districts including Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada and Koraput are likely to experience heavy rainfall and gusty winds under its influence.
