Cyclone Amphan: Cyclone Amphan, which hit the Indian mainland on Sunday, is expected to weaken and turn into an extremely severe cyclone on Tuesday, according to the predictions of the India Meteorological Department (IMD). In a statement released by the IMD on Tuesday morning, Amphan was a super cyclone at 5.30 am on Tuesday, but was predicted to weaken to an extremely severe cyclone by 11.30 am. The IMD further predicted the storm to remain in this state till Wednesday evening before further weakening into a very severe cyclone storm.
The development of cyclone weakening by 11.30 is a welcome change from IMD’s prediction on Monday, when it had expected the storm to weaken only by Tuesday evening.
IMD statement, while categorising the storm as extremely severe till Wednesday evening, predicted the speed of the storm to continuously reduce till it became a very severe cyclone on Wednesday evening, before further weakening into a cyclone with a maximum surface wind speed of 70 kmph early Thursday morning and then reducing to a depression by Thursday evening.
The met department also stated that while rainfall commenced in Odisha early on Tuesday, it is likely to intensify and reach the maximum level between Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon. warned of heavy rainfall at places in the north coastal region of Odisha, isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall in Khordha and Puri districts and light to moderate rainfall in coastal regions on Tuesday, while heavy rainfall can be expected in the northern region of the state on Wednesday. Meanwhile, in West Bengal, light to moderate rainfall can be expected in the Gangetic region on Tuesday. There also, the rains are expected to intensify and reach the maximum level of intensity on Wednesday.
Moreover, Assam and Meghalaya are expected to receive light and moderate rainfall in most areas, with heavy to very heavy rains in the western districts of the states on May 21.