Moderate to dense clouding is visible along the East Coast from Chennai to Cuttack (Odisha) and Central and South Kerala ahead of the formation of a low-pressure in the Bay of Bengal.
Densest clouds are hovering over Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam in Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Brahmapur in Odisha, as revealed by satellite pictures at noon.
Clouds over interiors
The clouds have also penetrated into East-Central India right into Sambalpur (Odisha); Rajnandgaon (Chhattisgarh); Warangal and Hyderabad (Telangana); Kurnool and Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh); Bengaluru and Mysore (Karnataka); and from Ernakulam to Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala).
Real-time rainfall trends available showed that rain bands are lashing Kakinada, Rajahmundry, Guntur, Ongole, Kavali, and Nellore which lie closest to the building activity in the nearby Bay waters. On the other side (West Coast), cyclonic circulation persists in East-Central and adjoining North-East Arabian Sea and adjoining areas of Konkan, Goa and South Gujarat.
Wind maps showed an elongated circulation forming over West-Central, Central, East-Central and adjoining North Bay and lying extended off the Tamil Nadu coast towards the South Myanmar coast.
This circulation is expected to concentrate into a low-pressure area, and intensify as a depression before crossing the North Coastal Andhra Pradesh and South Odisha coasts over the next three days. An India Met Department (IMD) outlook for today said heavy rain may lash Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Coastal Andhra Pradesh.
Heavy rain, rough seas
Thunderstorms accompanied with lightning have been warned of over Coastal Andhra Pradesh,Rayalaseema, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Madhya Maharashtra, Konkan, Goa, South Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Nagaland, Manipur, Interior Karnataka and Telangana.
Sea conditions would be 'rough to very rough' over the South and Central Bay and the Andaman Sea. Fishermen are advised not to venture into these areas. Forecast for tomorrow said heavy rain may lash Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Coastal Odisha and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Thunderstorms accompanied with lightning is likely at isolated places over Odisha. Sea conditions would be 'rough' ( eight- to 13 ft in height) to 'very rough' (13- to 20 ft in height) over South, Central and North Bay, the Andaman Sea, and along and off the Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Odisha coasts. Fishermen are advised not to venture into these areas.
Rain activity would suddenly pick up from Thursday (September 20) over Odisha, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, North-East India, Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.