Cyclone Sitrang Live Updates: Low-pressure area over north Andaman sea intensifies into depression

Cyclone Sitrang Live Updates: The coastal districts of Odisha and West Bengal will receive widespread heavy rainfall till October 25. Moderate to heavy intensity rainfall is likely over Assam, Meghalaya on Monday

By: Express Web Desk
Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, New Delhi | Updated: October 23, 2022 8:21:59 am
The Met Office has warned fishermen not to venture into the deep-sea area of the central Bay of Bengal from Saturday and along and off Odisha and West Bengal coasts between October 23 and 26. (File)

Cyclone Sitrang Live Updates: The Low Pressure Area over north Andaman Sea and south-east Bay of Bengal intensified into a Depression on Saturday morning, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. It is likely to move north-westwards till Sunday morning (October 23) and recurve north-northeastwards, intensify into a cyclonic storm, the weather body added. The cyclone is expected to cross Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal coast on Tuesday morning (October 25).

Thereafter, it would continue to move north-northeastwards and cross the Bangladesh coast, between Tinkona Island and Sandwip, around October 25 morning. According to the forecast, Sundarbans, on both sides of the international border, is likely to receive the maximum impact.

West Bengal and Odisha are on alert over the possible cyclone, the first to form in the Bay of Bengal in the month of October since 2018. Coastal districts of Odisha and West Bengal will receive widespread heavy rainfall till Tuesday, with moderate to heavy rainfall likely over southern Assam, east Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur and Tripura on Monday, the IMD said. Further, extremely heavy rainfall will lash Tripura and Mizoram on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Rough sea conditions with squally wind speeds ranging between 35-45 kmph gusting to 55 kmph along Odisha and West Bengal coasts, Andaman Islands and adjoining north Andaman Sea would prevail on Sunday.

Live Blog

Cyclone Sitrang Live News Updates: Low Pressure Area intensifies into Depression; Odisha, West Bengal on alert. Follow latest news and updates below.

08:15 (IST)23 Oct 2022
Depression over east-central Bay of Bengal to intensify into a cyclonic storm by 24th October

Depression over eastcentral Bay of Bengal moved northwestwards with a speed of 17 kmph during past 6 hours, intensified into a Deep Depression and lay centered at 5:30 a.m as of today, the 23rd October over the same region near latitude 15.4N and longitude 89.0E, about 580 km northwest of Port Blair, 700 km south of Sagar Island and 830 km south of Barisal (Bangladesh). 
     

It is very likely to move northwestwards during next 12 hrs and intensify into a cyclonic storm over central Bay of Bengal. Thereafter, it would recurve and move north-northeastwards and cross Bangladesh coast between Tinkona Island and Sandwip around 25th October early morning.

IMD Director General Mrutunjay Mohapatra has said while there is no possibility of the storm making landfall in Odisha, the state is expected to witness heavy to very heavy rainfall. The Odisha government has alerted seven coastal districts -- Ganjam, Puri, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak, Kendrapara and Balasore -- asking them to take precautionary measures.

Deputy director-general of the Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata Sanjib Bandopadhyay told reporters that isolated places in North-24 Parganas and South-24 Parganas districts would get heavy to very heavy rainfall on October 24.

This storm, which is expected to turn into a cyclone in the “severe” category is to be called as ‘Sitrang’ (read as Si-trang), a name suggested by Thailand. Sitrang will be the second cyclonic storm this year after Cyclone Asani that had formed in the Bay of Bengal in early May. (Here's how cyclones are named)

The Met Office has warned fishermen not to venture into the deep-sea area of the central Bay of Bengal from Saturday and along and off Odisha and West Bengal coasts between October 23 and 26. Both states are likely to experience widespread rainfall due to the weather system.

How are tropical cyclones named?

Cyclones that form in every ocean basin across the world are named by the regional specialised meteorological centres (RSMCs) and Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs). There are six RSMCs in the world, including the India Meteorological Department (IMD), and five TCWCs.

As an RSMC, the IMD names the cyclones developing over the north Indian Ocean, including the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, after following a standard procedure. The IMD is also mandated to issue advisories to 12 other countries in the region on the development of cyclones and storms. Here are the names of cyclones, past and future

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First published on: 23-10-2022 at 07:57:12 am
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