A low-pressure area has formed over West-Central and adjoining North Bay of Bengal off the Andhra Pradesh and South Odisha coasts this afternoon.

This is exactly as had been predicted by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. India Met Department (IMD) has said this morning that the 'low' could form over the next two days.

HEAVY RAIN LIKELY

Formation of the 'low' has helped the monsoon to advance into more parts of Konkan, interior Karnataka, Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Its northern limit passed through Vengurla, Gadag, Anantapur and Nellore in the South Peninsula and extending across the Bay into the North-Eastern States this afternoon.

Favourable conditions are developing for its further advance into some more parts of Konkan, interior Karnataka, Rayalaseema, Coastal Andhra Pradesh and parts of Madhya Maharashtra.

The 'low' is expected to take the coverage of monsoon over South Peninsula on a par with its progress along the West Coast, which is ahead of the normal for this time of the year.

MONSOON EASTERLIES

The 'low' would linger off the Andhra Pradesh-Odisha coast for a few days, and would ensure widespread rainfall over the North Peninsula and adjoining Central India.

The West Coast can expect heavy to very heavy rain with extremely heavy rain at isolated places, with Coastal Karnataka, Goa, Konkan and Mumbai being the most vulnerable areas.

The 'low' is also forecast to send in moisture-laden easterlies from the Odisha and Bengal coast into a waiting land-based trough that covers East India and adjoining North-West India.

This morning, the trough extended from North Rajasthan to West-Central Bay of Bengal and the centre of the 'low' in the Bay, cutting across North Madhya Pradesh, North Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

After crossing the coast, the 'low' could well take this path to spiral over land, bringing heavy to very heavy rainfall into the farming heartland of the country.

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