Cyclone Arnab likely to make landfall early Wednesday in Andhra: IMD

Very severe cyclonic storm Arnab is likely to make landfall early Wednesday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday. According to the latest IMD update, the storm is expected to cross the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam between 2 am and 4 am on Wednesday.

The very severe cyclonic storm over the west-central Bay of Bengal moved west-northwestwards at a speed of 18 kmph during the six hours up to 5.30 pm on Tuesday and remained centred over the same region, according to the latest update from the IMD.

The storm was located about 90 km southeast of Kakinada, 170 km south-southwest of Visakhapatnam, 170 km east-northeast of Machilipatnam, 240



km east-northeast of Bapatla and 410 km southwest of Gopalpur, the IMD said.

"It is very likely to continue to move nearly west-northwestwards during the next few hours, then northwestwards and cross Andhra Pradesh & Yanam coasts between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, close to south of Yanam as a very severe cyclonic storm with the maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 kmph (and) gusting to 150 kmph during early hours of October 28," it said.

It observed that Arnab is interacting with the land surface and the outer spiral band has entered into the land. "Due to faster movement, the landfall of the cyclone is expected early, likely during early hours around 2 am to 4 am on Wednesday", it added.