Cyclone Yaas may hit Bengal next week, warns Met – Times of India

KOLKATA: It’s the month of May and another cyclonic storm is brewing over the Bay of Bengal.
Though weather scientists are yet to predict the date, time and place of landfall and its intensity, the met department has indicated that the low pressure that is forecast over the east-central Bay of Bengal may intensify into a cyclone early next week, a year after Kolkata and vast swathes of the adjoining areas bore the brunt of Super Cyclone Amphan.

The Indian Meteorological Department issued a warning on Wednesday that a low pressure is likely to form over north Andaman Sea and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal around Saturday and intensify gradually into a cyclonic storm over the next 72 hours. It is likely to move northwestwards and reach West Bengal and Odisha coasts around the evening of May 26. Rains are likely to commence from May 25 evening with significant increase in spatial extension and intensity subsequently.
Squally wind speed reaching 50-60 kmph gusting to 70 kmph is expected from May 23 and further evolve into a gale wind between May 24 and 26.
Super cyclone Amphan that had struck the city on May 20 last year had winds gusting at 165-185 km per hour during its landfall and had left behind a trail of devastation after it passed over the city.
“Conditions like sea surface temperature, wind shear, cloud formation over the sea, moisture condition and a cyclonic circulation which are conducive for the formation of a cyclonic storm prevail,” said GK Das director (weather) at RMC Kolkata.
The weather office is closely tracking the development of the low pressure area. If the existing low pressure is turned into a cyclone, it will be called Yaas, named by Oman.
“It is too early to predict where the cyclone will make its landfall, the timing and intensity as to whether its magnitude will be greater or lesser than Amphan. We will keep issuing bulletins on the development from time to time,” said Das.
But what looks certain now is that rain is likely to lash coastal districts by evening of May 25, says the met office.