Cyclone Fengal to develop in Bay of Bengal tomorrow, headed towards Tamil Nadu

As per the latest meteorological updates, the prevailing deep depression over the Northwest Bay of Bengal was located at about 280 km southeast of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, 570 km south-southeast of Nagapattinam, 680 km south-southeast of Puducherry and 770 km south-southeast of Chennai.

“It is very likely to continue to move north-northwestwards and intensify further into a cyclonic storm by Wednesday. Thereafter, it will continue to move in the north-northwestward direction towards Tamil Nadu coast and skirt the Sri Lankan coast during subsequent two days,” IMD said on Tuesday.

Even though La Nina, the unusual cooling of the sea surface along the equatorial Pacific Ocean, is yet to emerge, 2024 is expected to be a La Nina year. According to IMD officials, during La Nina years, the cyclones that develop in the North Indian Ocean region (the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea) tend to clock a track and head towards Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu coasts.

The projected track of Cyclone Fengal. (Image: IMD)

Cloudy and overcast sky conditions have been prevailing over Tamil Nadu and adjoining south interior Karnataka since Tuesday. Cold and windy conditions in these regions have kept the temperatures below normal. The Met agency has warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall (up to 200 mm in 24 hours) and extremely heavy rainfall (more than 200 mm in 24 hours) over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry till Saturday.

A ‘red’ alert has been issued for Tamil Nadu on Wednesday and an ‘orange’ alert on Thursday. Heavy rainfall will also affect coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam, Rayalaseema, Kerala and Mahe during the remaining days of this week.

Fishermen have been warned against venturing into the sea, particularly off Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka coasts, till November 29 given the brewing storm.