Cyclone Arnab intensified into a ‘very severe cyclonic storm’ over the westcentral Bay of Bengal late on Monday, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) warning of a potential landfall along the Andhra Pradesh coast by the forenoon of October 28.
People tracking Cyclone Arnab live can follow the storm’s movement through hindustantimes.com’s live blog on the cyclonic storm here or satellite imagery and prominent weather bulletins. – IMD updates: Follow the India Meteorological Department’s latest cyclone bulletins and warnings on its X handle or official websites. – Live satellite tracker: Zoom Earth also tracks cyclones with its moving satellite maps, which for cyclonic storm Arnab can be seen here .
The storm is expected to cross the coast between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to Yanam, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 115-125 kmph and gusts reaching 140 kmph. -In its latest bulletin issued at around 9:45 am on Tuesday, the IMD said very severe cyclonic storm Arnab, pronounced “Ornab”, moved nearly westwards with a speed of 22 kmph during the preceding six hours, and lay, at 5:30 am, 260 km southeast of Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 300 km east-southeast of Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), 380 km south of Gopalpur (Odisha), 390 km east of Machilipatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 460 km east of Bapatla (Andhra Pradesh) and 980 km west-northwest of Sri Vijaya Puram (Andaman Islands). -Cyclone Arnab is very likely to move west-northwestwards till evening of October 27 and thereafter, it is very likely to move northwestwards and cross Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to Yanam as a “very severe cyclonic storm” with the maximum sustained windspeed of 115-125 kmph gusting to 140 kmph by forenoon of October 28. -The Disaster Management Authority warned that winds along the coast could reach speeds of 90–100 kmph, while wind speeds during landfall may increase to 115–125 kmph, with gusts reaching up to 140 kmph. -In an earlier bulletin issued at 2:30 am on Tuesday, the IMD said Cyclone Arnab had intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm and moved west-northwestwards at 23 kmph over the preceding six hours. What IMD said earlier The deep depression over Bay of Bengal turned into a cyclone in the early hours of Monday and went on to intensify into a “severe” and “very severe” storm in the succeeding hours.
