Cyclone Sitrang likely to become severe cyclonic storm

Kolkata/Bhubaneswar: The deep depression over Bay of Bengal intensified into a cyclone on Sunday evening and is very likely to gather further strength becoming a severe cyclonic storm before crossing the Bangladesh coast on October 25 morning, the IMD said.
The cyclone, named Sitrang by Thailand, is very likely to intensify into a severe cyclonic storm on Monday with wind speed reaching 90 to 100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
It is likely to cause heavy to very heavy rain in the coastal districts of West Bengal and isolated heavy rain in north coastal Odisha, it said.
At 5.30 pm on Sunday, the cyclone was 580 km south of Sagar Island in West Bengal and 740 km south-southwest of Barisal in Bangladesh, it said.
It will mainly affect the Sunderbans spread over West Bengal and Bangladesh as tidal waves are likely to reach a height of six metres owing to the twin effect of the weather system and new moon, deputy director-general of the Regional Met Centre in Kolkata Sanjib Bandopadhyay said.
After changing course in a northeastward direction from northwest-bound, the system will reach north Bay of Bengal before making landfall between Tinkona island and Sandwip close to Barisal in Bangladesh in the early morning of Tuesday, he said.