Cyclone Mocha: Severe Storm Brewing In Southeast Bay of Bengal Likely To Intensify Today

The IMD has predicted that a major storm brewing in the southeast Bay of Bengal is expected to intensify into a cyclone today.

The IMD said that cyclone Mocha formed over the Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into a very severe storm by Friday.

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The Indian Meteorological Department has predicted that a major storm brewing in the southeast Bay of Bengal is expected to intensify into a cyclone today. According to the weather office, the well-marked low-pressure area concentrated into a depression on Tuesday packing wind speeds of 45 to 55 kmph and gusting to 65 kmph over the southeast Bay of Bengal. The weather system was expected to intensify into a deep depression on Wednesday by 5.30 am and turn into Cyclone Mocha in the next 12 hours, IMD said.

The IMD said that cyclone Mocha formed over the Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into a very severe storm by Friday. According to the weather department, the storm is expected to move towards the Bangladesh and Myanmar coasts around May 12. A low-pressure area has already formed over the southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining South Andaman Sea on Monday, the IMD said. The low pressure formed can turn into a depression. 

According to IMD, the cyclone is currently about 510 km southwest of Port Blair. Earlier, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that people do not need to fear the cyclone as the state government is equipped to handle the situation. "No need to fear the cyclone. If there come different circumstances, we will rescue people from coastal areas as the cyclone will move to Bangladesh and then Myanmar," CM Banerjee said. Earlier, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration had issued an alert for the people.

Last week, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik held a meeting with senior government officials on the possible cyclonic situation due to low pressure in the South Bay of Bengal and asked the administration to remain prepared, according to a statement. The Chief Minister directed the Chief Secretary to conduct regular reviews regarding the cyclone and the Special Relief Commissioner to closely monitor the situation and work in coordination with all departments.

According to the system of naming cyclones, the storm will be called Cyclone Mocha (Mokha), a name suggested by Yemen after the Red Sea port city Mokha, which introduced coffee to the world 500 years ago, as reported by the news agency PTI. Light to moderate rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy precipitation at isolated places is likely over Andaman and Nicobar islands from Tuesday to Thursday, the Met Department said.

In Kolkata, hot weather continued to cause discomfort on Tuesday. An IMD statement said the city recorded a maximum temperature 38.5 degrees Celsius while the minimum temperature settled at 29.5 degrees. The temperature in south Bengal districts hovered around 38-40 degrees Celsius and is not likely to change in the next 24 hours. The maximum humidity was 84 per cent in the city and its neighbourhood. IMD Deputy Director (East) Sanjib Banerjee said the temperature is expected to rise further on Wednesday before rains begin.