Even as monsoon is taking a final bow in north and northwest India, its tail is wagging in the Bay of Bengal.
This is mostly being attributed to the impact of class-topping (category 5) super typhoon Jelawat, which has created quite a churn in the north-west Pacific.
FRESH STORM
A second tropical storm, Ewiniar, has sprung up fresh over the basin though no way near in Jelawat’s scale and intensity. Global forecasts had pointed to the formation of two tropical cyclones (typhoons) west of the Philippines during last week itself.
Both the storms are bound north-northeast and to the south of Japan, with Jelawat expected to graze its southern tip.
Given the context, India Meteorological Department (IMD) expects a low-pressure area to form in upstream central Bay of Bengal over the next two days.
A warning valid for the next two days said that heavy rainfall would occur over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
MAY INTENSIFY
Global models also agree with this outlook and go on to suggest intensification of the ‘low’ as a minimal tropical storm.
The storm might move east and hit Indochina region/southern Myanmar, and push some rain into north-east India as well.
The IMD said that rain or thundershowers may occur over Karnataka, Kerala, Rayalaseema and Tamil Nadu during the next two days and scale up later.
Extended forecasts said that thundershowers may break out over the North-eastern States and south peninsular India.
An US agency suggested that the northern Kerala coast and adjoining coastal Karnataka too might witness an escalation in rain activity.
EASTERN RAINS
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the rain-driver trough of lower pressure over Assam and Meghalaya persisted, promising to sustain the ongoing rains there.
The monsoon was active over Andaman and Nicobar Island, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura during past 24 hours ending Tuesday morning.
Elsewhere, the monsoon withdrew from parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, entire Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, parts of west Uttar Pradesh, most of Rajasthan and more parts of Gujarat.