After a lull for two consecutive years, Odisha seems again all set to have a date with another cyclonic storm, ‘Kyant’, making landfall on around October 30-31 between Gopalpur and Puri if the current prediction by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) is any indication.
What looks vulnerable for Odisha is neither the wind is blowing in its favour nor the sea surface temperature is cooling off, which together is laying a red carpet to Kyant to re-curve towards the Odisha coast.
While the sea surface temperature is around 28-29 degree Celsius, the wind velocity is predictably lower at around 6-8 m/s. An INCOIS analysis shows that the cyclonic storm would hurtle towards the south Odisha and north Andhra coast on around October 28-29 and would gradually move along the coast for some time to make a landfall on around October 30-31 between Gopalpur and Puri.
However, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has till time ruled out of Kyant evolving into a Super Cyclone. labelling it as a cyclonic storm, the IMD has predicted the maximum surface wind fury of Kyant at around 90 kmph and gusting up to 100 kmph. The wind velocity it has predicted is for October 28. And The IMD is yet to predict its exact landfall place and date.
But one fact the IMD acknowledges is Kyant would certainly make a landfall in Odisha though its projected cone of uncertainty with regard to journey of cyclonic storm Kyant extends from Kalingapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to Digha in West Bengal.
According to IMD analysis on October 24, the deep depression is lying stationary over east central Bay of Bengal. It said the deep depression is at about 520 km north-northeast of Port Blair, and it to intensify into a cyclonic storm in next 24 hours. It would move northwards for some time and then re-curve initially north-northwestwards and then northwestwards to reach northwest Bay of Bengal on October 27 morning and would move towards the Odisha coast.