The India Met Department downgraded severe intensity of cyclonic storm Helen before it crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast on Friday afternoon.
The landfall took place close to south of Machillipatnam with reduced wind speeds of 80-90 km/hr (against 110 km/hr forecast earlier).
SUCCESSOR BREWING
The storm lay centred on coastal Andhra Pradesh south-west of Machillipatnam on Thursday evening, the Met Department said.
It would move west-southwestwards and will have weakened to a rudimentary low-pressure area by Saturday morning.
Meanwhile, a successor storm seems to have been initiated with a causative ‘low’ taking shape off Sumatra (Indonesia) and adjoining South Andaman Sea on Friday.
As in the case of severe cyclone Helen, this ‘low’ too has been put under watch straight away for rapid intensification as depression.
The Met Department indicated that it will go on to intensify beyond this level but stopped short of generating a cyclone alert just yet.
SEVERE CYCLONE
An Australian weather model has forecast that it would become a cyclone with in the northeast quadrant likely to clock speeds of 100 km/hr as early as Monday. By then, it will have reached north of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands only.
It will move at a measured pace to north-west and early forecasts indicate it could intensify into a very severe cyclone, if not a super cyclone, over the Bay waters.
But it will start weakening over waters close to Odisha coast, and canter home as a much weakened system, according to early projections.
A storm tracker of the Climate Prediction Centre of the US National Weather Services also seemed to agree with the outlook for intensification.
RAIN FORECAST
Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Centre of US Navy has already put the system under watch for rapid strengthening.
But the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts does not see intensification to the levels suggested above and takes the system towards the Tamil Nadu coast.
Meanwhile, remnant of cyclone Helen will bring rain to most places over north coastal Andhra Pradesh and adjoining Guntur, Krishna, West Godavari districts of south coastal Andhra Pradesh until Saturday. Heavy to very heavy rainfall has been warned of at a few places and isolated extremely heavy rainfall at others.
Heavy rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls has been forecast over Telangana, too. Moderate rainfall is likely at many places over south Odisha.
Squally winds speed reaching 50-60 km/hr gusting to 70 km/hr will prevail along and off Andhra Pradesh coasts until Saturday morning.
Sea condition will be very rough to very rough along and off Andhra Pradesh coasts. Fishermen are advised not to venture into sea.