Weather: South TN, Kerala on edge as Cyclone Burevi leaves Lanka

Cyclone Burevi, which was over Sri Lanka, moved west-northwestwards and was located about 40 km East of Mannar (Sri Lanka), 120 km East-South-East of Pamban, and 320 km East-North-East of Kanniyakumari (both in South Tamil Nadu) at 5.30 am on Thursday morning.

The cyclone would keep its structure intact and move west-northwestwards to emerge into Gulf of Mannar near the Mannar coast by 11.30 am, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Packing winds speeding to 70-80 km/hr and gusting to 90 km/hr, the cyclone will be centered close to Pamban around noon.

Slight shift in track

It will then shift track (bend southward) to move west-southwestwards across the Pamban area by the afternoon, and cross the South Tamil Nadu coast between Pamban and Kanniyakumari by Thursday night or early Friday morning as a cyclone with wind speeds of 70-80 km/hr gusting to 90 km/hr.

The impact of the cyclone may start revealing itself over the coastal districts of South Tamil Nadu from this forenoon itself from the Ramanathapuram district first, and spread gradually towards the Kanniyakumari district farther to the South-South-West, the IMD said.

Heavy to very heavy rainfall is forecast with isolated extremely heavy falls over the Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari, Tenkasi and Sivagangai districts in South Tamil Nadu and the Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha districts in South Kerala on Thursday and isolated heavy to very heavy rain over South Tamil Nadu and South Kerala on Friday.

Heavy rainfall forecast

Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely over North Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Mahe, Karaikal and North Kerala on Thursday while it would be isolated heavy on Friday. Heavy rainfall is forecast also over south Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Lakshadweep on both Thursday and Friday. The Regional Meteorological Centre, Chennai, said that widespread showers may hit Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, Mahe and Lakshadweep till Friday morning while it will be isolated over Coastal Karnataka and scattered over South Interior Karnataka.

Landfall over Sri Lanka

Cyclone Burevi made the first landfall over Sri Lanka last night (Wednesday) when it crossed the East Coast of the island close to north of Trincomalee between 10.30 pm and 11.30 pm. The Sri Lanka Meteorological Department said that the centre of the cyclone had crossed the North-East coast between Kuchchaveli and Thiriyayi between 10.30-11.30 pm.

Meanwhile, squally wind speeds reaching 55-55 km/hr gusting to 75 km/hr over the Comorin area, the Gulf of Mannar and along, and off Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari in South Tamil Nadu Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha in South Kerala, will scale up to 70-80 km/hr gusting to 90 km/hr from the forenoon to Friday.

High winds, rough seas warned

Wind speeds reaching 45-55 km/hr gusting to 65 km/hr are forecast over Lakshadweep-Maldives area and adjoining South-East Arabian Sea will prevail into Friday. A storm surge of about 3.2 ft high above the astronomical tide may inundate low lying areas of Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari districts during the time of landfall.

Sea conditions will be ‘very rough to high’ (wave heights of 20-30 ft) over Comorin area, the Gulf of Mannar, and along and off the South Tamil Nadu-Kerala and West Sri Lanka coasts on Thursday and Friday. It will be ‘rough to very rough’ (8-20 ft) over the Lakshadweep-Maldives area and adjoining South-East Arabian Sea from today (Thursday) to Saturday, the IMD said.