Very Severe Cyclone Arnab May Cross the Andhra Coast Wednesday Noon; Signal No. 3 for Bangladesh's Four Ports

The very severe cyclonic storm Arnab is moving towards India's Andhra coast with winds reaching up to 150 kilometres per hour. India's weather office says that, moving further west-northwestwards, Arnab may cross the coast between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam on the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts around Wednesday noon.

As the sea is very rough near the cyclone centre, the Bangladesh Meteorological Department has advised the maritime ports of Chattogram, Cox's Bazar, Mongla and Payra to keep hoisting local cautionary signal number three.

According to the Met Office's special bulletin, at noon on Tuesday the cyclone was located 1,130 kilometres southwest of Chattogram port, 1,095 kilometres southwest of Cox's Bazar, 965 kilometres southwest of Mongla and 985 kilometres southwest of Payra port.

At that time, the maximum sustained wind speed within 64 kilometres of the cyclone centre was 130 kilometres per hour, rising to 150 kilometres per hour in gusts.

With the sea rough, the weather office has advised all fishing boats and trawlers in the North Bay of Bengal to move close to the coast and proceed with caution until further notice.

India's weather office says that when the cyclone crosses the coast, maximum sustained wind speed may be 125 to 135 kilometres per hour, rising to 150 kilometres per hour in gusts.

At that time, low-lying areas of Andhra Pradesh may be inundated by a storm surge 1.5 to 2.5 metres above the normal tide, the Indian weather office said.

The risk of a major impact from Arnab in Bangladesh is low. However, the Bangladesh weather office has forecast rain in various parts of the country because of the cyclone.

The forecast says rain or thundershowers may occur at some places in all eight divisions on Wednesday. From Thursday to Saturday, rain is likely at many places in Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions and at one or two places in other divisions, including Dhaka, Khulna and Barishal. The rain tendency may decrease afterwards.

In the last 24 hours, the country's highest temperature was recorded at 36.8 degrees Celsius at Ambagan in Chattogram. Only Bandarban recorded rainfall of 3 millimetres during this period, while most other places had no rain.

Night temperatures on Tuesday may remain nearly unchanged, but day temperatures across the country may fall by 1 to 2 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.