Yaas to turn very severe, may make landfall near Balasore: Met

“The system, which lay centred about 620 km south-southeast of Balasore and 610 km south-southeast of Digha in West Bengal over east-central Bay of Bengal on Monday morning, will move in a north-northwesterly direction. It will intensify into a severe cyclonic storm by Monday night and further intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm by May 26 early morning,” said Sanjib Bandyopadhyay, deputy director at the Regional Met Centre in Kolkata.

The system will have a sustained speed of 90 kmph to 100 kmph, gusting to 110 kmph, along and off Odisha coast on May 26 morning.

“At the time of landfall near Balasore, wind speed will reach 155 kmph to 165 kmph, gusting to 185 kmph, along and off Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore districts in Odisha and in Purba Medinipur district of West Bengal,” added Bandopadhyay.

The coastal areas of North and South 24 Parganas in West Bengal will experience 90 kmph to 100 kmph wind speed, gusting to 120 kmph. The wind speed in Kolkata, Howrah and Hooghly on May 26 could reach up to 70 kmph to 80 kmph, gusting to 90 kmph.

According to Met Office, cyclone Yaas will lead to storm surge along the coasts of Balasore, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara and Bhadrak in Odisha. Along the coastline in Purba Medinipur, the storm surge could lead to two to four metres tall wave, and one to two metres in South 24 Parganas district.

In West Bengal, the coastal districts of Purba and Paschim Medinipur, South and North 24 Parganas, along with Howrah and Hooghly are experiencing light to moderate rainfall in many places since Monday noon.

On May 26, the spread and intensity of rain will increase with the possibility of “extremely heavy rainfall” in Jhargram, Purba and Paschim Medinipur, North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly and Kolkata.