Cyclone Mocha Highlights: IMD says cyclonic formation to gather more strength

A major storm brewing in the southeast Bay of Bengal has begun gathering steam and is expected to intensify into a cyclone by Wednesday, IMD said.

The well-marked low-pressure area concentrated into a depression on Tuesday evening packing wind speeds of 45 to 55 kmph and gusting to 65 kmph over the south-east Bay of Bengal, the India Meteorological Department said.

It said the weather system was expected to intensify into a deep depression by 5.30 am on Wednesday and turn into Cyclone Mocha in the next 12 hours, packing wind speeds of 80-90 kmph and gusting to 100 kmph.

The system is expected to move initially north-northwestwards till May 12 morning and later towards Bangladesh-Myanmar coasts, the weather office said.

'Mocha' is likely to cause heavy rainfall in the Bay Islands till May 11 and move north-westwards till May 12. There are possibilities that the cyclone will gather more strength on May 12 before its likely landfall over the Bangladesh-Myanmar coasts around May 14, the IMD said in its statement.

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands administration has alerted the people as the cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal is likely intensify from late on Tuesday night. A well-marked low-pressure area now lies over the southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining south Andaman Sea.

The IMD has asked people residing in the coastal areas of Bengal and Andaman islands to shift to safer places as the condition of the sea is likely to be very rough from May 10 to May 12.

Here are some ways through which Cyclone Mocha can be tracked on your devices:

Zoom Earth: This comprehensive cyclone tracker offers real-time updates on a storm's progress with satellite image animations and also shows affected areas. The website can be accessed via mobile phones or computers. It also offers data on wind, pressure, temperature, humidity fluctuations, and barometric pressure charts.

Rainviewer.com: This website also tracks all progress of a Cyclone and views affected areas. For quick and real-time updates, you can download the Rainviewer Mobile App to track the updates on storm.

India Meteorological Department: IMD also provides quick and timely updates on warnings, high alerts, temperatures, and weather conditions.

A low pressure area formed over south-east Bay of Bengal on Monday is expected to intensify into a cyclone and likely to move towards the Bangladesh-Myanmar coast later this week.

IMD officials have urged people not to panic about a possible cyclone but remain prepared to face any eventuality.

The weather office has suggested regulation of tourism and offshore activities and shipping near Andaman and Nicobar Islands and over the sea areas of southeast and central Bay of Bengal till Friday.

Squally wind speed reaching 50-60 kmph gusting to 70 kmph is likely over southeast Bay of Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and adjoining Andaman Sea on Tuesday, IMD director said. 

In a tweet on Tuesday, the weather department informed about the further trajectory of Cyclone Mocha, it said, “The low pressure area over Southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining South Andaman Sea has become Well Marked Low Pressure Area over the same region at 0530 IST today, the 9th May 2023".

The cyclone will be named Mocha (Mokha), a name suggested by Yemen after the Red Sea port city, which is known to have introduced coffee to the world over 500 years ago.

“It may intensify into a cyclonic storm over the southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas of East Central Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea on 10th May”, the IMD statement said.

A cyclone probability on May 10, it is likely to move north-northwestward till May 12 morning, after which it will change course and turn north-northeast towards Bangladesh-Myanmar: Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar

"The low-pressure area over the Southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining South Andaman Sea has become a well-marked low-pressure area over the same region at 0530 IST today, the 9th May 2023. It is very likely to intensify into a depression by today evening over the same region," IMD's official statement said.

The low-pressure area over the Southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining South Andaman Sea became a well-marked low-pressure area on Tuesday, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a bulletin.

Light rains are forecast in the northern part of West Bengal- in the districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Alipurduar, Coochbehar, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur and Malda. 

"A low-pressure area is likely to intensify into a depression on May 9 over the Southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining South Andaman Sea and further into a cyclonic storm over the southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas of East Central Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea on May 10," IMD Director General Mrutunjay Mohapatra. said in a statement.

In association with the likely formation of cyclogenesis over the Bay of Bengal and its movement, east & northeast, and adjoining central India is likely to experience fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls mainly during 11 to 17 May, IMD said.

Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee assured that all necessary measures are being taken to combat the possible cyclonic storms.

In view of the cyclone, eastern states including Odisha, Andaman, and West Bengal have been put on high alert. 

The weather department has warned fishermen, ships, and small boats against venturing into the southeast Bay of Bengal in view of the Cyclone.

As the cyclone is approaching, there are some ways that one can track all its updates in real time on personal devices. Read here to know how

Rainfall is expected to increase over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Squally weather with wind speeds reaching 40-50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph is likely over south-east Bay of Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and adjoining Andaman Sea on Tuesday. Stormy condition are likely to continue at least till May 11.

An atmospheric trough was running from south-west Bay of Bengal off north Tamil Nadu coast to cyclonic circulation associated with the low-pressure area over south-east Bay of Bengal and adjoining south Andaman Sea, the weather office said in its bulletin.