Cyclone Gaja may skip Chennai, strike further south

Landfall likely on Thursday between Cuddalore and Pamban

Cyclone Gaja is likely to cross the Tamil Nadu coast between Cuddalore district and Pamban, in Ramanathapuram district, in the forenoon of Thursday As on Monday evening, the cyclonic storm lay over the Bay of Bengal, about 720 km east-northeast of Chennai and 800 km east-northeast of Nagapattinam. Though it is likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm in the open seas, it is set to weaken gradually, and cross the coast only as a cyclonic storm. It is likely to bring heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places over seven districts in the state on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the India Meteorological Department. Weather models indicate moderate rainfall over Chennai during those days. Named by Sri Lanka, it is the 55th tropical cyclone since the naming convention started in 2004. While rainfall is expected over most parts of north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, a few places in districts such as Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Karaikal, Nagapattinam, Cuddalore, Ramanathapuram and Pudukottai may experience heavy to very heavy rainfall, scaling up to 24 cm on Wednesday and Thursday. One or two places in these districts may also receive rainfall in excess of 24.4 cm, for which a red colour-coded warning has been issued. “Such colour-coded weather warnings are given for agencies involved in disaster management to be prepared even if extremely heavy rainfall is likely to occur in one or two places of the State. A red colour-coded warning for a State does not mean that the entire State is facing a threat of extremely heavy rainfall,” said S. Balachandran, Deputy Director General of Meteorology, Chennai. Gale-force winds reaching speeds of 80-90 km per hour may prevail along and off north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts.

Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/cyclone-gaja-may-skip-chennai-set-to-strike-further-south/article25481189.ece

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