As Cyclone Montha approaches land, residents of Bengaluru fear its widespread impact on Karnataka. Clearly, its impact is worrying as a deep depression in the Bay of Bengal has intensified into a “strong” cyclonic storm. It was centered near 14 degrees north latitude and 83.5 degrees east longitude on October 27 at 11:30 p.m., according to the latest IMD update.
With maximum sustained winds of 90-100 kmph, gusting up to 110 kmph, Cyclone Montha is expected to make landfall on the evening or night of October 28 near Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam, about 200 km from Malkangiri in Odisha.
The cyclonic storm located “280 km south-southeast of Machilipatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 360 km south-southeast of Kakinada (Andhra Pradesh), 410 km south of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), 610 km southwest of Gopalpur (Odisha)” is gaining strength.
Flash Flood Warning for Bangalore Rural and Banglore Urban
On 28 October, the IMD issued a yellow alert predicting light to moderate rainfall, thundershowers at many places with isolated heavy rainfall over Coastal, Malnad and South Interior Karnataka.
In its latest press release, the Met Office predicted a low to moderate risk of flash flooding in low-lying areas, several catchments and their neighbourhoods. Bangalore Rural, Bangalore Urban, Kolar and Ramnagar areas in south interior Karnataka are at risk, the IMD said. Several low-lying areas of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are also at risk of flash floods.
Besides, the prevailing weather system is expected to cause stormy weather with wind speed reaching 40-50 kmph along the Karnataka coast and beyond. The maximum wind speed of 60 km/h is expected to significantly affect several districts. “Scattered heavy rainfall” is likely in coastal Karnataka today.
A press release dated October 28 said, “Light to moderate showers/thunderstorms are likely at a few places over Ballari, Bengaluru (Rural), Bengaluru (Urban), Chamarajanagara, Chikkaballapura, Chikkamagaluru, Chitradurga, Davanagere, Hassan, Kodagu, Kolar, Mandya, Hassan. Districts Shivamogga, Tumakuru and Vijayanagara.”
Bengaluru International Airport’s monitoring station recorded a maximum temperature of 26.5 degrees Celsius, a deviation of 2.7 degrees Celsius from normal.
Apart from the weather warning for Karnataka, the IMD has issued weather warnings for various areas of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Kerala where significant impact of Cyclone Montha is expected.
According to the IMD, heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to end:
Rayalaseema, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Mahe, Coastal Karnataka: 28 October
Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Yanam, Telangana, Odisha, Chhattisgarh: till October 30
