NEW DELHI: In a rare occurrence during September, a cyclone is set to hit the north Andhra-south Odisha coast on Sunday evening with expected wind speeds gusting up to 95kmph, the IMD has warned. The cyclone, christened ‘Gulab’, intensified from a deep depression over north Bay of Bengal on Saturday afternoon and is expected to make landfall by Sunday around Kalingapatnam, between Vishakhapatnam and Gopalpur, the India Meteorological Department said.
IMD has issued a red weather warning for extremely heavy rain in parts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh on Sunday, and in south Chhattisgarh on Monday, by when the system may weaken into a depression. The department has also warned of cyclone-related flooding and destruction, including damage to hutments and other structures while adding that power/communication lines and standing crops could take a hit.
Besides, orange alerts for heavy rain have been issued for various days up to September 29 for Vidarbha, Telangana, Marathwada, Konkan coast, including Mumbai, and Gujarat.
Cyclones rarely occur during September, particularly when the monsoon is active, as the wind systems associated with the monsoon prevent storms in the Bay of Bengal from intensifying into cyclones.
Gulab is likely to be followed back-to-back by a milder cyclonic circulation that will start impacting from the evening of September 28, bringing heavy rain to Bengal, including Kolkata, Odisha and inland regions of central and north India, including Uttar Pradesh and possibly Delhi-NCR.