A 12-hour outlook for Bay of Bengal cyclone Mahasen suggests that it will once again weaken as it executes the turn before re-curving towards Bangladesh for a landfall.
The storm will re-intensify after putting itself on the path for the landfall, an update from Joint Typhoon Warning Centre of the US Navy said this morning.
The cyclone lay centred at about 750 km northwest of Car Nicobar; 650 km northeast of Trincomalee (Sri Lanka); 700 km southeast of Chennai; and 1,330 km south-southwest of Chittagong (Bangladesh).
It will retain cyclone strength till just ahead of the landfall, which is still three days away, model forecasts suggested.
India Met Department said satellite imageries showed convective (rain-bearing) clouds over parts of South Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Southwest and Central Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea.
Rain or thundershowers would break out over Tamil Nadu and South Andhra Pradesh during next two days, the forecast said.
Thundershowers have been forecast also over Gangetic West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and South Karnataka.
Heavy to very heavy rainfall has been forecast Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Thunder squall could break out over Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.