Cyclone Arnab has intensified into a ‘very severe cyclonic storm’ over the west-central Bay of Bengal and is hurtling toward the eastern coast, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. It is expected to make landfall on Wednesday.
It is likely to cross the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam as a very severe cyclonic storm, with maximum sustained winds of 115-125 kmph, gusting up to 140 kmph, by the forenoon of October 28, it said.
The system is currently under continuous surveillance by the Doppler Weather Radar at Visakhapatnam.
According to the IMD’s Regional Meteorological Centre in Bhubaneswar, the storm moved west-northwestwards at a speed of 23 kmph late on October 26. It is expected to continue on this trajectory until the evening of October 27, then shift northwestward toward the coast.
(With agency inputs)
