New Delhi, Nov 28 (UNI) Cyclone Ditwah, which developed near Sri Lanka’s southeastern coast in the equatorial Indian Ocean, is now on course to make landfall between northern Tamil Nadu and southern Andhra Pradesh in the early hours of Sunday, officials of the India Meteorological Department said on Friday.
The storm is expected to bring a fresh spell of heavy to extremely heavy rainfall across coastal and interior districts.
It is the third cyclone to form in the Bay of Bengal during the post-monsoon months of October and November.
After skirting Sri Lanka’s eastern shoreline and moving into the southwest Bay, the system began tracking steadily toward the Indian coast. In anticipation of severe weather conditions, the IMD has issued both orange and red alerts for several districts in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
Flights bound for Colombo have already been diverted, and high-wind warnings remain in effect over the southwest Bay of Bengal, the Gulf of Mannar, the Comorin region, and along the coasts of Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
While Ditwah is expected to weaken into a deep depression by early Monday, forecasters have not yet confirmed its inland trajectory.
A westerly trough advancing across northwestern India may influence whether the storm is able to penetrate further inland after landfall. UNI JRC
