Following the movement of Cyclone Senyar off the Indian coast, a new low pressure system over southwest Bay of Bengal is turning into a cyclonic storm. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that the system is “very likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm within 12 hours” and will be named Cyclone Ditwah once it does.
The IMD said the developing cyclonic storm could potentially hit the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and southern part of Andhra Pradesh.
According to the IMD, the weather system consolidated over the southwest Bay of Bengal, adjoining areas of southeast Sri Lanka and the equatorial Indian Ocean.
Earlier, the Met department said Cyclone Senyar was located 850 km south-east of Car Nicobar – the northernmost island of the Nicobar chain – and was expected to turn into a depression by that evening.
What is Cyclone Ditwah?
In a social media update on platform X on Thursday, the IMD forecast that a deep depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal and adjacent Sri Lankan coast is highly likely to continue tracking roughly north-northwestward and further intensify into a full cyclonic storm during the next 12 hours.
The Meteorological Department classifies low pressure systems in the Indian region based on their maximum sustained wind speed. A system is designated as a cyclonic storm when its maximum sustained three-minute surface winds reach 34 knots or more.
According to the IMD’s list of tropical cyclone names in the North Indian Ocean, the latest depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal will be named Cyclone ‘Ditwah’ once it reaches cyclonic storm intensity.
What does Cyclone Ditwah mean?
The name was suggested by Yemen. “Ditwah” is the name of a famous lagoon on the island of Socotra, which is known for its distinctive coastal ecosystem. It is also known as Detwah Lagoon.
“The depression over SW Bay of Bengal and adjacent Sri Lankan coast moved N-NW at 8 kmph during last 6 hours, intensified into a deep depression and was centered at 05:30 hrs IST today 27 Nov 2025 over the same area near 6.3 km E latitude 4° E to 82. Lanka) and 170 km south-southeast of Batticaloa (Sri Lanka) is very likely to continue to move almost north-northwestward over southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining Sri Lanka and further intensify into a cyclonic storm during the next 12 hours,” the IMD said in its X post.
The IMD then added that the storm is very likely to maintain its north-northwest track and move over southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining Sri Lanka coast towards northern Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining southern Andhra Pradesh coast during the next 48 hours.
Yellow and orange alerts
In Tamil Nadu, several districts including Chennai, Nagapattinam, Thiruvallur and Thanjavur were under yellow and orange alerts by the IMD on November 27, 28 and 29.
The IMD also said that the deep depression is highly likely to further escalate into a cyclonic storm during the next three hours.
