The Cyclone
- A fresh cyclone, Ditva, is now heading towards the region. According to the India Meteorological Department, a cyclonic circulation in the southwest Bay of Bengal near Sri Lanka intensified into a strong one on Thursday morning. At Thursday evening, it lay 20 km from Batticaloa in Sri Lanka, 520 km from Puducherry, and 620 km from Chennai.
- The system is likely to move north-northwest and reach north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and south Andhra Pradesh by Sunday morning. In view of this, the IMD issued alerts for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, and the states of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.
Name and Origin of ‘Ditva'
- The IMD gave a name to the cyclone, Ditva, proposed by Yemen. It is a well-known lake on the island of Socotra. Meteorologists say that the intensity of this storm is expected to last about four days.
- While the earlier predictions put landfall to be between Chennai and Puducherry, the new revised assessment says the storm would likely not cross the coast but weaken while moving parallel to the shoreline.
Rainfall and Wind Forecast
The Amaravati Meteorological Center said that the cyclone will bring widespread rainfall in Andhra Pradesh from Friday to Tuesday.
- Orange alerts have been issued for some districts on Saturday.
- Red alerts have been issued for some districts on Sunday.
As many as 20-plus cm of rain could fall in some areas. The coastal wind is forecast to pick up from this Friday evening, with gusts topping 80 km/h on Saturday and Sunday. Ports in Visakhapatnam and Machilipatnam are under second-level warnings.
District-wise Rainfall Expectations
Friday:
- Heavy Rain likely over Sri Potti Sri Ramulu Nellore and Tirupati Districts.
Saturday:
- Heavy to very heavy rain in Sri Potti Sri Ramulu Nellore, Tirupati, Annamayya, Chittoor.
- Heavy rain in Sri Sathya Sai, Anantapur, YSR Kadapa, Prakasam, Bapatla.
Sunday:
- Heavy to very heavy rain in Chittoor, Annamayya, Tirupati, YSR Kadapa, Sri Potti Sri Ramulu Nellore and Prakasam.
- Heavy to very heavy rainfall at Nandyal, Bapatla, Guntur and Palnadu.
- Heavy rain in Sri Sathya Sai, Anantapur, Kurnool, NTR, Krishna, West Godavari.
Monday:
- Heavy to very heavy rain in Krishna, Prakasam, Bapatla and Guntur.
Heavy rain in YSR Kadapa, Nandyal, Kurnool, Palnadu, NTR, Eluru, West Godavari, Dr. BR Ambedkar Konaseema and East Godavari. Cold Weather Conditions Along with the influence of the cyclone, cold weather persists over the state. Araku in the Alluri Seetharamaraju district reported the minimum temperature at 8.5°C on Wednesday night.
