Bhubaneswar: Severe Cyclonic Storm ‘Murasu’ over the westcentral Bay of Bengal moved north-northwestwards at a speed of 12 kmph during the past six hours and is likely to cross the south Andhra Pradesh coast between Nellore and Narsapur, close to Ongole, around midnight on Monday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
In its bulletin, the IMD said the storm lay centred over the westcentral Bay of Bengal near latitude 14.7°N and longitude 80.7°E at 5.30 PM on Monday.
The system was located about 80 km east-northeast of Nellore, 80 km east-southeast of Kavali, 110 km southeast of Ongole, 190 km north-northeast of Chennai and 170 km south-southwest of Machilipatnam.
The IMD said Murasu is very likely to move northwestwards and cross the south Andhra Pradesh coast as a Severe Cyclonic Storm, packing maximum sustained wind speeds of 100-110 kmph gusting to 120 kmph.
The landfall is expected between 2330 hours IST (11.30 PM) on Monday and 0400 hours IST (4.00 AM) on Tuesday, November 3, with the system crossing close to Ongole.
The cyclone is under continuous surveillance by Doppler Weather Radars at Chennai, Machilipatnam and Visakhapatnam.
