Cyclone likely to hit state on Oct 22: MeT

KOLKATA: The Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore on Tuesday predicted a possible cyclone over the Bay of Bengal by the weekend and said the low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify into a cyclone by October 22. There may be scattered rainfall in south Bengal districts on the day of Diwali.

It also forecast that a cyclonic circulation developed over the south Andaman Sea and its neighbourhood on Monday. It was located over the North Andaman Sea on Tuesday morning. A low-pressure area is likely to form over south-east and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal under its influence in the next 48 hours. It may move in a west-northwest direction and concentrate into a depression by the morning of October 22 over central Bay of Bengal. The weather experts point out that it is very likely to intensify further into a cyclonic storm over west-central Bay of Bengal subsequently. The depression may become well-marked and turn into a storm. The intensity of the system and its path is not clear now. The weather office will be able to throw light on the cyclone after the low-pressure area is formed. The storm is most likely to move westwards, assumes the MeT office. If it intensifies into a cyclone it will be called Sitrang, as named by Thailand.