Cyclone Dana latest update: Cyclonic storm to hit Odisha coast this evening

Bhubaneswar: Cyclonic storm DANA intensified into a severe cyclonic storm in the forenoon of Thursday and lay centered about 180 km south-east of Paradip, according to the Centre for Environment and Climate (CEC) of Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University (SOA) here.

The system is expected to move in a north-westerly direction and cross the Odisha coast close to Rajnagar in Kendrapara district this evening, a SOA-CEC bulletin said.

The landfall may happen three hours earlier than the time anticipated or three hours afterwards, it said.

The wind speed at the time of landfall is likely to be around 100 kmph and it will mostly impact Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Jajpur and Mayurbhanj districts.

The CEC bulletin said the eye of the storm was visible in the Doppler Radar at Paradip for an hour or two but subsequently it was not very prominent. Due to high pressure in upper atmosphere called blocking high, the system will move south-westwards instead of north-westwards after crossing the coast near Rajnagar.

A blocking high pressure system, also known as blocking anticyclone, is a large scale slow-moving area of high pressure which can prevent other pressure systems from moving into an area.

Heavy rainfall accompanied by varying wind speed ranging from 45 to 60 kmph is expected to commence late tonight or tomorrow morning in the districts of Jajpur, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Angul, Khurda, Jagatsinghpur, Nayagarh, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Nawarangpur and Koraput and continue till October 26.

It will, however, depend on its movement through these districts, the bulletin said.