Asani Cyclone may pass 700km from Kolkata, likely to bring more rain – Times of India

KOLKATA: On Wednesday morning, when cyclonic storm Asani comes close to the coast it will be 600km-700km away from Kolkata. It is expected to trigger rain in the city and other parts of south Bengal.

Met office, however, has ruled out the cyclone causing any major damages in Kolkata in terms of uprooting of trees or flooding as the city is expected to get only light to moderate rain. But heavy rain alert has been issued for South and North 24 Parganas, East and West Midnapore and Nadia.
Met office said the cyclone will come close to the coast but is unlikely to make any landfall since the system is expected to recurve towards the sea from the coast itself.
On Tuesday evening, the severe cyclone was positioned over west central Bay of Bengal, 630 km and 530 km south-west of Puri and Gopalpur, respectively, and till last reports came in, it was moving at a speed of about 6kmph. According Met office, Asani will move northwestwards and come close to Andhra coast between Kankinara and Visakhapatnam by Wednesday morning. By this time it would have weakened to transform into a cyclonic storm from a severe cyclonic storm.
The system will then recurve slowly north-northeastwards and move along the Andhra coast and then emerge into the northwest Bay of Bengal off north Andhra and Odisha coasts. Then this system is likely to weaken into a depression.
“It is yet to be seen how fast the system loses strength once it emerges off Andhra and Odisha coasts. But it is unlikely to cause any major disruption in Kolkata. We expect a wind speed of just between 30-40 kmph even in the Odisha coast. Hence there is no strong wind warning for our coastal region. The warning is only for heavy rain in the five coastal districts – North and South 24 Parganas, East and West Midnpaore and coastal Nadia,” said GK Das, director (weather) at Regional Meteorological Centre Kolkata.
“The impact in Kolkata will be light to moderate rain till Thursday. But the rain amount will not be sufficient enough to cause flooding,” added Das.
Clouds detached from the outer band of the cyclone have already started causing rain in Kolkata from Monday itself. On Tuesday, however, till late into the night Alipore recorded just about 4cm of rain.
“Once the cyclonic storm dissipates, there will be strong south west wind causing heavy rain in north Bengal from Thursday onwards,” said Das.
Met office has also ruled out any high tide during this period as any kind of storm surge is unlikely due to the slow wind speed.