Cyclone Asani is likely to bring heavy rain to isolated areas in Odisha, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh. The weather office said the deep depression in the Bay of Bengal has intensified into a cyclonic storm.
According to reports, the storm is moving at 16kmph in the northwest direction. "The system lay centered at 5.30 AM over Southeast Bay of Bengal, about 450 km west-northwest of Car Nicobar (Nicobar Islands), 380 km west of Port Blair (Andaman Islands), 970 km southeast of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), and 1030 km south-southeast of Puri (Odisha)".
Senior scientist of the Regional Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar, Umashankar Das said rainfall will commence in coastal districts from May 10.
The system will remain in the cyclonic form till Sunday evening and later intensify into a severe cyclonic storm. Asani will continue to remain in the severe form till May 10 night. It will lose steam in the sea and become another cyclonic storm on May 11 and 12.
The region will receive rainfall on Tuesday evening. A yellow warning has been issued in three districts in Odisha - Gajapati, Ganjam, and Puri. A rainfall warning has been issued for Wednesday in five districts- Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Cuttack & Ganjam. Intense rain is expected in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh as well on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Fishermen have been advised to stay away from eastern and southeastern parts of the Bay of Bengal on Sunday and central parts on Monday and Tuesday. A total suspension of fishing and tourism activities has been suggested in Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Sunday.