According to the India Meteorological Department, a low-pressure region over the South Andaman Sea is expected to develop into a cyclone dubbed Asani by Sunday and proceed north towards India’s eastern coast. Officials with the IMD predicted that the low-pressure region would become a depression by Saturday evening and a cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal 24 hours later. By May 10, it is forecast to continue north-northwest, passing into coastal Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Between May 10 and 11, Asani is expected to make landfall between Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneshwar.
Experts have stated that it is still too early to forecast the exact path of the weather system. “There is a great deal of variation in what different models indicate. Because model forecasts change regularly, we can’t say whether or not this cyclone will make landfall right away…” According to Ananda Kumar Das, head of the IMD’s cyclone monitoring department.
“On Sunday, we’ll have more clarification,” he continued. The storm may possibly do a U-turn and return to sea or make a quick turn and head towards Bangladesh, according to weather officials.
