Amaravati: Cyclonic storm ‘Montha’ over the west-central Bay of Bengal moved north-northwestwards at 17 km/h during the past six hours and lay centred at 2:30 am on Tuesday, October 28, about 230 km south-southeast of Machilipatnam, 310 km south-southeast of Kakinada, 370 km south of Visakhapatnam, and 570 km south-southwest of Gopalpur (Odisha), according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
It is likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm and continue moving north-northwestwards, crossing the Andhra Pradesh coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam (near Kakinada) during the evening/night of October 28 with maximum sustained wind speeds of 90–100 kmph, gusting up to 110 kmph.
‘Montha’ means fragrant flower in Thai.
Rainfall and Weather Alerts
- Red Alert (extremely heavy rainfall >20 cm in 24 hrs): Issued for 19 coastal and northern districts of Andhra Pradesh.
- Orange Alert (very heavy rainfall 11–20 cm): Nandyal, Kadapa, Annamayya
- Yellow Alert (heavy rainfall 6–11 cm): Kurnool, Anantapur, Sri Sathya Sai, Chittoor
Light thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds (up to 40 kmph) along with moderate rainfall are likely at isolated places in Annamayya, Kadapa, and Nandyal over the next three hours.
Impact
- Nine flights between Chennai and Visakhapatnam (and other AP destinations) were cancelled Tuesday morning due to adverse weather.
