Bhubaneswar: The Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu, which crossed the south Andhra Pradesh coast between Nellore and Narasapur close to Ongole, is likely to continue to move north-northwestwards and weaken gradually into a cyclonic storm with wind speed reaching 80-90 kmph gusting to 100 kmph by noon today, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its latest bulletin.
According to the IMD, the weather system is likely to weaken into a deep depression with wind speed reaching 55-65 kmph gusting to 75 kmph by midnight.
The storm crossed the south Andhra Pradesh coast between Nellore and Narasapur, close to Ongole (near Latitude 15.53°N and Longitude 80.22°E) during 03:30 am to 05: 30 am with wind speed of 100-110 kmph gusting to 120 kmph. At 05:30 am today, Murasu lay centered over south coastal Andhra Pradesh, near Latitude 15.6°N and Longitude 80.2°E, close to Ongole, about 40 km southwest of Bapatla, 80 km north-northeast of Kavali, 120 km west-southwest of Machilipatnam, and 130 km north of Nellore.
It moved north-northwestwards with a speed of 08 kmph during the past six hours before landfall, IMD said.
The system is under continuous surveillance of Doppler Weather Radars at Chennai and Machilipatnam.
