The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal during the afternoon or evening hours of Saturday. As per what Pakistan proposed, it will be named Cyclone Gulab if it intensifies. As the storm approaches, IMD has forecast the intensity to be between light and moderate (2.4mm to 644mm in 24-hours) over West Bengal, Odisha and coastal Andhra Pradesh on Saturday. 

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The Met Office has issued a warning of heavy to extremely heavy rain (115.6mm to over 204.4mm in 24-hours) over south Odisha, north coastal Andhra Pradesh for Sunday. 

Heavy rainfall is expected in Telangana, north interior Odisha, and Chhattisgarh. Due to rough sea conditions and intense winds, fishermen have been advised against venturing into the sea till Monday.

As on Saturday morning 5.30 am, a deep depression was found east-central Bay of Bengal as on 5:30 am on Saturday. It was reportedly about 510km east-southeast of Gopalpur in Odisha and 590kms east- northeast of Kalingapatanam in Andhra Pradesh.

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“The deep depression will intensify into a cyclonic storm during the next 12 hours. It is likely to move westwards and cross north Andhra Pradesh and adjoining south Odisha coast sometime during Sunday evening,” the IMD’s cyclone bulletin stated. 

Like most recent storms that have earlier crossed Indian coasts, this too is rapidly intensifying. In less than 48 hours, it intensified from a low pressure (wind speed less than 34kms/hr) to a deep depression (wind speed 51 to 61kms/hr).

Cyclone Gulab will mark the third cyclone of 2021 following all the devastation caused by Tauktae and Yaas this year. 

According to cyclone data dating between 1990 and 2021, only 14 cyclones occurred during September, with just three storms between 2011 and 2021, excluding the developing cyclone Gulab.