Cyclone 'Maha' to Bring Heavy Rainfall, Gusty Wind in Lakshadweep & Many Southern States; Red Alert Issued

Weather report:

The effect of Cyclone Maha over Lakshadweep area is likely to bring widespread rainfall in Tamil Nadu and Kerala for next 48 hours. On 30th October 2019, several districts of Tamil Nadu, including Chennai got drenched under the influence of the weather system.

Indian Meteorological Department said that "Deep depression over Lakshadweep and neighboring southeast Arabian sea & Maldives area moved northwestwards with a speed of 25 kmph in the past 6 hours & intensified into Cyclonic storm 'Maha' & lay centered about 130 km northeast of Minicoy (Lakshadweep) and 320 km west-northwest of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

IMD further said, "It is very likely to continue moving northwestwards across Lakshadweep Islands in next 24 hours and then appear into east-central Arabian Sea. It is expected to intensify into a Severe Cyclonic Storm on Thursday afternoon over Lakshadweep areas."

All fishing operations have been suspended due to deteriorating weather conditions over the Arabian Sea and gusty winds along the Kerala-Karnataka coasts. It is important to mention that Cyclone storm ‘Maha’ is the second in the 2019 northeast monsoon season, after super-cyclone 'Kyarr'.

The weather department has issued a red alert (extremely heavy rainfall) over Lakshadweep for today. Moreover, orange alerts (isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall) have been declared for Thrissur, Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Malappuram. Yellow alert (isolated heavy falls) has also been issued for the remaining districts.

Weather in Delhi

Air quality in several parts of northern India that includes National Capital has plunged to very dangerous levels again and is expected to remain severe in the days ahead due to winds blowing in farm fire smoke from Punjab and Haryana. Doctors & residents have urged the authorities in Delhi to shut schools and also cancel outdoor sporting events as air pollution remained at the most severe level for 2nd day running on 30th October (Wednesday). Weather in Delhi will remain cool, cloudy and smoggy till Friday.