Cyclone Alert: Cyclonic storm Burevi to hit Tamil Nadu, Kerala tonight; intensity lower than Nivar

After cyclone Nivar last week, another cyclonic storm, Burevi, is expected to hit south Indian shores. In the last 10 days, this is the third cyclone that has formed in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal. The upcoming cyclone Burevi is expected to cause heavy rains in Tamil Nadu and Kerala till December 5. According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), Burevi will cross Tamil Nadu coast between Pamban and Kanniyakumari during the night of December 3 and early morning of December 4. Currently, the cyclone is positioned 200 km east of Trincomalee in Sri Lanka and 600 km east-northeast of Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari. The IMD has forecasted extremely heavy to heavy rainfall in India’s two southernmost states as the cyclone approaches India.

After crossing the Sri Lankan coast near Trincomalee, cyclone Burevi will take a path west-north westwards towards the Gulf of Mannar and cross Kanyakumari on Friday afternoon. The expected wind speed is between 78-80 km/hour and can gust up to 100 km/hour.

As India has suffered a strong cyclone Nivar just a few days ago, it remains a question whether cyclone Burevi will be as strong as cyclone Nivar. A report by The Indian Express citing IMD officials has noted that the impact of Burevi will not be as strong as Nivar. It is to note that cyclone Nivar had hit near Karaikal, Puducherry shores on November 25 causing much destruction. The cyclone that hit Indian shores, less than 10 days ago, has left the sea conditions unstable in the southwest region of Bay of Bengal. Due to this, overall sea conditions will remain disturbed. Officials are of the view that cyclone Burevi will not be able to strengthen beyond the intensity of a cyclonic storm.

The report highlighted that due to the upwelling Nivar caused, Burevi will not be able to intensify beyond a limit. According to the IMD officials, when consecutive systems are in place and are in the same region, the upwelling is led by the predecessor system. Upwelling is usually the process where cooler water from the ocean’s lower surface is pushed on the upper surface. In this case too, as the previous cyclone is leading the upwelling, there are no warm sea surface conditions that will further fuel Cyclone Burevi while at the sea. Thus, Burevi will only remain a cyclonic storm till Friday before it weakens in a deep depression.

Meanwhile, heavy to very heavy rainfall (64 to 204mm) has been forecasted in Kanyakumari, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Sivagangai, and Ramanathapuram districts of Tamil Nadu and Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Thiruvananthapuram and Alappuzha districts of Kerala. Other coastal areas in the south will also receive heavy rainfall till this Saturday.