The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday that a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a cyclonic storm Midhili.
According to IMD, the cyclonic storm will be moving past the Sunderbans before making landfall on the Bangladeshi coast with a maximum wind speed of 80 kmph on Friday night or early Saturday.
“Yesterday’s deep depression over Westcentral Bay of Bengal moved north-northeastwards and intensified into the cyclonic storm Midhili over Northwest Bay of Bengal in the morning today,” IMD said.
Due to the cyclonic storm, West Bengal’s coastal districts, including North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah, East Medinpur and Kolkata, are likely to receive heavy rainfall for the next 24 hours. Some districts of Odisha, like Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur, are also likely to get heavy rainfall, it added.
Authorities in these districts have put the officials on alert.
IMD said high sea condition is prevailing over the North Bay of Bengal and along and off the Bangladeshi coast and is likely to continue until Friday midnight and will turn very rough thereafter on Saturday.
