Cyclone Midhili continues to weaken after hitting Bangladesh coast; heavy rain lashes Northeast states

Deep Depression (remnant of Cyclonic Storm “Midhili”) over Tripura & adjoining Bangladesh weakened into a Depression and about 50 km east-southeast of Agartala and 160 km southwest of Silchar. To weaken into a WML over south Assam & adjoining Mizoram-Tripura during next 06 hours pic.twitter.com/5MAFPXa8c0

— India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) November 18, 2023

Alerts sounded in Northeast India; setback for Meghalaya’s Cherry Blossom Festival

Governments in various northeastern states sounded alerts following heavy rain on Friday, as the deep depression over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a cyclonic storm ‘Midhili’.

Mizoram, Tripura and Assam witnessed rainfall of varied intensity through Friday. Meanwhile, the first day of the three-day Meghalaya’s Cherry Blossom Festival was cancelled due to bad weather conditions.

Rain, accompanied by chilly winds, has been witnessed by the states since Friday morning, and the same is likely to continue on Saturday, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

In a special weather bulletin on Friday, the IMD said that Cyclone Midhili over the northwest Bay of Bengal moved north-northeastwards with a speed of 26 km per hour during the past six hours and lay centred at 8.30 am on Friday over the northwest and the adjoining northeast Bay of Bengal, about 250 km east-northeast of Paradip in Odisha, 180 km east-southeast of Digha in West Bengal and 180 km southwest of Khepupara of Bangladesh.

The cyclonic storm was also expected to bring heavy rainfall in the coastal districts of West Bengal and some parts of Odisha but no major impact was felt in these areas, according to the IMD. As a precautionary measure, Odisha’s Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) had put all the District Collectors on alert in the wake of the cyclone.

In view of the rough sea conditions during the storm, fishermen were earlier warned against venturing into the deep seas till Saturday.

Bangladesh witnesses second cyclone in less than a month

Cyclone Midhili is the second cyclonic formation to hit the Bangladesh coast in quick succession after cyclone Hamoon.

The name ‘Midhili’ was given by the Maldives. Countries affected by the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal cyclones rotationally give names of cyclones in a sequence.

On October 25, cyclone Hamoon had crossed near southern Chittagong.

During the same time as Cyclone Hamoon, cyclone Tej cyclone crossed the Yemen coast. Both of them were regarded as twin cyclones developed over the north Indian ocean. The last such twin cyclones ‘Luban’ and ‘Titli’ were recorded in 2018, according the IMD.

A cyclonic storm is characterised by a maximum sustained wind speed of 62-88 kmph, while it is termed a severe cyclonic storm if the maximum sustained wind speed reaches 89-117 kmph.

— With PTI inputs