Saturday, May 25, 2024 Cyclone Remal intensifies in the Bay of Bengal, set to hit West Bengal and Bangladesh on Sunday with high winds and heavy rainfall expected. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning due to a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal that has escalated, with expectations to reach the shores of West Bengal and Bangladesh by midnight on Sunday, May 26. This disturbance, named ‘Remal,’ is predicted to bring intense weather conditions and is the season’s inaugural pre-monsoon cyclone in the region.
As of late Saturday morning, the storm was located about 420 kilometers south of Khepupara, Bangladesh, and was advancing north at a speed of 11 kilometers per hour. The IMD anticipates that by Saturday evening, this depression will evolve into a cyclonic storm and upgrade further into a severe cyclonic storm by early Sunday. The expected point of landfall is between Sagar Island in West Bengal and Khepupara in Bangladesh, where wind speeds are likely to surge to 110-120 kilometers per hour, with potential gusts reaching up to 135 kilometers per hour.
The IMD has alerted of torrentially heavy rains in the coastal areas of West Bengal and northern Odisha on May 26-27, with significant rainfall also forecasted for parts of northeast India on May 27-28. West Bengal braces for heavy rainfall Forecasters predict a storm surge that could raise sea levels up to 1.5 meters, potentially flooding coastal regions of West Bengal and Bangladesh during.
