Imminent cyclone Ashobaa in the Bay of Bengal will be a 120-155 Kph storm. It is expected to hit the Andhra coast between Visakhapatnam and Puducherry on November 12, 2014, afternoon [IST].
The present depression in the Bay of Bengal will weaken in a day or two and move to the Andhra coast on November 9 bringing it some rains. The wind speeds recorded in the system are about 50-55 Kph. Hardly cyclone standard. The IMD has rightly desisted from called it a cyclone [Contrary to what the JTWC says which calls it Tropical Cyclone 5B].
But the real thing; Cyclone Ashobaa, will come into the Bay of Bengal on November 9, 2014, from the Gulf of Thailand. It will then intensify into a 75-95 Kph cyclone just before it moves into the South Andaman Islands on the morning of November 10 [Sunday]. Our guess is the IMD will name it cyclone Ashobaa then.
Very strong winds and heavy rains are expected in the Andaman Islands on Sunday. it will then move in a WNW direction and when it will be some hundred kilometers from the Andhra Pradesh coast, it will further intensify into a 95-120 Kph cyclone.That will be on Tuesday night. [November 11, 2014].
It will further intensify and hit the Andhra coast between Visakhapatnam and Puducherry on the afternoon of Wednesday, November 12, 2014, with winds of 120 Kph gusting up to 155 Kph.
Ashobaa will be much weaker than Hudhud, but it will still be a powerful storm. One hopes that the Andhra government uses these five days to make adequate preparations so that what happened in Visakhpatnam during Hudhud does not happen again.
