Hummingbird News Desk
KOLKATA, 22 OCT: A low-pressure area moved west-northwestward and concentrated into a depression over the north Andaman sea and adjoining south Andaman sea on Saturday morning, the IMD said in its bulletin.
The depression will intensify around 1460 km south-southeast of West Bengal’s Sagar Island, and is expected to turn into a cyclonic storm by 24 October.

Forecast is that on 25 October, it would swipe through the Bangladesh coast, between Tinkona Island and Sandwip.
The weather system moved west-northwestward and concentrated into a depression on 22 October at 8.30 am, close to west of Andaman Islands, the bulletin said.
“It (the weather system) is expected to move northwestward and intensify further into a deep depression over east-central and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal by 23 October morning. The system is then very likely to re-curve gradually north-northeastwards and intensify into a cyclonic storm over central Bay of Bengal by 24 October morning,” the IMD stated.
The name ‘Sitrang’ was proposed by Thailand for the possible cyclonic storm.
The West Bengal government is bracing for a storm accompanied by heavy rainfall which is likely to develop into a cyclone, named Sitrang, with the formation of a low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday.
The cyclone will move towards West Bengal from Odisha before it enters Bangladesh, weather officials said.
The administrations in all the districts have been alerted for an exigency. Also, administrative officials of the coastal areas have already been warned of possible emergency.
In anticipation of the formation of a cyclonic storm over west-central and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal, fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea from Sunday onwards until further notice and a red alert has been issued by the weather department in this regard. Those who are in deep sea have been advised to return to the coast by Saturday night.
Offshore activities in the North Bay of Bengal have been suspended on October 24 and 25. The weather department has advised to restrict the ferry services.
“Ferry services may be restricted in the Sunderban areas on October 24 and 25. Water-bound tourist activities at Digha, Mandarmani, Shankarpur and Sagar etc. may be restricted on October 24 and 25,” the department said in an advisory.
The low-pressure zone is likely to move gradually north-north-eastwards and reach near the West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts on October 25, skirting Odisha coast, the IMD says.

Light to moderate rain with thunder will occur at many places on October 24 and 25 in several districts of south Bengal.
To maintain the safety measures, the Odisha government has kept its men and machinery ready as the weatherman predicted heavy rainfall along the state’s coastal districts.
The IMD has cautioned fishermen against venturing into the deep sea area of central Bay of Bengal from Saturday. It also advised them against going along and off Odisha coast and west-central and North Bay of Bengal between October 23 and 26.
Heavy rainfall warning for the districts of Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Keonjhar, Cuttack, and Khurda is forecasted by regional Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar.
Special Relief Commissioner P K Jena said the state government, as part of its preparedness, was in touch with different agencies such as the NDRF, Indian Coast Guard, Indian Navy, and Fire Services for rescue operations, if need be.
Jena asserted that the cyclone was likely to move past the Odisha coast, maintaining a distance of around 200 km from Dhamra Port.
Tags: #CycloneSitrang #BayOfBengal #Bangladesh #WestBengal #Odisha #TinkonaIsland #Sandwip #SagarIsland