Bhubaneswar: Very severe cyclonic storm ‘Arnab’ is interacting with the land surface, with its outer spiral band already entering the land, prompting an expectation of an early landfall between 2 am and 4 am on October 28, according to the latest India Meteorological Department (IMD) bulletin issued at 5.30 pm on Tuesday.
The storm, which was moving west-northwestwards at a speed of 18 kmph over the past six hours, lay centred over the west-central Bay of Bengal, off the Andhra Pradesh coast, at 5.30 pm on October 27.
The cyclone was located near latitude 16.3°N and longitude 82.7°E, about 90 km southeast of Kakinada, 170 km south-southwest of Visakhapatnam, 170 km east-northeast of Machilipatnam, 240 km east-northeast of Bapatla and 410 km southwest of Gopalpur in Odisha.
According to the IMD, the system is likely to continue moving nearly west-northwestwards for the next few hours before turning northwestwards and crossing the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to the south of Yanam, during the early hours of October 28.
The very severe cyclonic storm is expected to cross the coast with maximum sustained wind speeds of 125-135 kmph, gusting to 150 kmph.
The latest bulletin, issued under a Red Message for the post-landfall outlook for Andhra Pradesh and adjoining south Odisha coasts, indicated that the cyclone’s interaction with the land surface and the entry of its outer spiral band had raised the likelihood of an earlier landfall.
The storm’s movement and landfall timing remain critical for preparedness along the Andhra Pradesh coast and adjoining areas of south Odisha.
