Kerala is bracing for an increase in rainfall over the next two days as Cyclone Montha, currently churning over the Bay of Bengal, advances towards the Andhra Pradesh coast. The cyclone is projected to make landfall in Andhra Pradesh, specifically between Machilipattanam and Kalingapatnam, by Tuesday evening.
According to the latest weather bulletin issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday, what was previously a deep depression in the southeast and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal intensified into Cyclonic Storm ‘Montha’ on Sunday night. At that time, it was positioned approximately 640 km east-southeast of Chennai, 710 km southeast of Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), 740 km west of Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), 740 km south-southeast of Visakhapatnam, and 860 km south of Gopalpur (Odisha).
This powerful system is anticipated to cross the Andhra Pradesh coast as a severe cyclonic storm later on Tuesday, with sustained wind speeds expected to reach 90-100 kmph, potentially gusting up to 110 kmph. As a direct consequence of this weather phenomenon, certain parts of Kerala are likely to experience isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall throughout Monday.
In light of this, an ‘orange alert’ – signifying very heavy rainfall – has been issued for three key districts: Kozhikode, Kannur, and Kasaragod. Meanwhile, all other districts across the state, with the exception of Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam, have been placed under a ‘yellow alert’, indicating a likelihood of isolated heavy rainfall.
Forecasters predict that the intensity of rainfall will gradually subside in Kerala on Tuesday as Cyclone Montha moves further inland along the Andhra Pradesh coast, where it is expected to weaken after making landfall.