Cyclone Murasu likely to cross Andhra coast near Ongole tonight: IMD

Cyclone Murasu likely to cross Andhra coast near Ongole tonight: IMD

Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu is very likely to cross the south Andhra Pradesh coast between Nellore and Narsapur, close to Ongole, between late Monday night and early Tuesday morning, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Monday.

In a post on X, the IMD said the storm was expected to make landfall between 11.30 pm on November 2 and 4 am on November 3, with wind speeds of 100–110 kmph, gusting to 120 kmph.

At 5.30 am on Monday, Murasu was centred over the west-central and adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal near latitude 13.9°N and longitude 81.8°E. It had moved west-northwestwards at 25 kmph during the preceding six hours.

The storm was located about 200 km east-northeast of Chennai, 210 km east-southeast of Nellore, 270 km south-southeast of Machilipatnam, 220 km east-southeast of Kavali and 260 km southeast of Ongole.

The IMD said the system was very likely to move northwestwards before crossing the coast as a severe cyclonic storm.