Severe cyclone Asani raging in Bay of Bengal; expected to weaken without landfall

Asani, the severe cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal, packing gale force winds up to 120 km per hour, was moving towards coastal Andhra Pradesh and Odisha at a speed of 25 km per hour on Monday, but expected to weaken gradually over the next two days, the weather office said.

The cyclonic storm lay centred about 550 km southeast of Vishakhapatnam and 680 km south-southeast of Puri at 5:30 am on Monday, a special bulletin issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said at 8:45 am.

"It is very likely to move northwestwards till Tuesday and reach Westcentral and adjoining Northwest Bay of Bengal off North Andhra Pradesh & Odisha coasts, the weather office said.

Thereafter, it is very likely to recurve north-northeastwards and move towards Northwest Bay of Bengal off Odisha coast. It is likely to weaken gradually into a Cyclonic Storm during the next 48 hours, the bulletin said.

The system will not make landfall either in Odisha or Andhra Pradesh, IMD Director-General Mrutunjay Mohaptra had said on Sunday.

He had said the cyclone will move parallel to the east coast and cause rainfall from Tuesday evening.

The weather office said very high sea conditions were likely to prevail over westcentral and adjoining south Bay of Bengal and asked fishermen not to venture out in the region for the next couple of days.

Under the influence of the cyclone, coastal Odisha and adjoining areas of north coastal Andhra Pradesh are expected to receive light to moderate rainfall from Tuesday evening, the weather office said.