Cyclone ‘Burevi’ made the first landfall over Sri Lanka last night (Wednesday) when it crossed the East Coast of the island close to north of Trincomalee between 10.30 pm and 11.30 pm as a cyclone with wind speeds of 80-90 km/hr gusting to 100 km/hr, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday morning.
The Sri Lanka Meteorological Department said the centre of the cyclone crossed the North-East coast of Sri Lanka between Kuchchaveli and Thiriyayi between 10.30 and 11.30 pm on Wednesday night. Cyclone ‘Burevi’ with wind speeds of 70-80 km/hr and gusting up to 90 km/hr may move west-northwestwards, and emerge into Gulf of Mannar by noon on Thursday.
Into Gulf of Mannar
The IMD said that at 2.30 am on Thursday, the cyclone was about 60 km to the North-West of Trincomalee; and 180 km East-South-East of Pamban and 380 km East-Northeast of Kannyakumari (both in South Tamil Nadu in India). It is expected to move nearly west-northwestwards and emerge into the Gulf of Mannar that separates Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka, and would be centred close to Pamban (South-East Tamil Nadu) by noon featuring wind speeds of 70-80 km/hr gusting to 90 km/hr.
It would then shift track to West-South-West across the Pamban area by afternoon and make a landfall on the South Tamil Nadu coast between Pamban and Kanniyakumari tonight (Thursday) or early on Friday morning. Its impact could be felt on the south Tamil Nadu coastal districts from this forenoon from initially over Ramanathapuram and gradually towards Kannyakumari.
To retain cyclone status
Heavy to very heavy rainfall with isolated extremely heavy falls has been forecast over the Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Kannyakumari, Tenkasi and Sivagangai districts in South Tamil Nadu and Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha districsts in South Kerala on Thursday. It would be isolated heavy to very heavy over these areas on Friday.
Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely North Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Mahe, Karaikal, and North Kerala on Thursday and isolated heavy on Friday. Heavy rainfall is also forecast over South Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Lakshadweep both on Thursday and Friday.
Squally wind speeds reaching 45-55 km/hr gusting to 65 km/hr over the Comorin area, the Gulf of Mannar and along and off Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari in South Tamil Nadu Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha in South Kerala, and will scale up to 55-65 km/hr gusting to 75 km/hr early today (Thursday) and to 70-80 km/hr gusting to 90 km/hr from the forenoon to Friday.
High winds, rough seas warned
Wind speeds reaching 45-55 km/hr gusting to 65 km/hr are forecast over Lakshadweep-Maldives area and adjoining South-East Arabian Sea from Thursday for next two days. A storm surge of about 3.2 ft high above the astronomical may inundate low lying areas of Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari districts during the time of landfall.
Sea conditions will be ‘very rough to high’ (wave heights of 20-30 ft) over Comorin area, the Gulf of Mannar, and along and off the South Tamil Nadu-Kerala and West Sri Lanka coasts on Thursday and Friday. It would be ‘rough to very rough’ (8-20 ft) over the Lakshadweep-Maldives area and adjoining South-East Arabian Sea from today (Thursday) to Saturday, the IMD said.