Union Minister Warns of Cyclone Remal’s Intensification, Coastal Areas on High Alert

Cyclone Remal: According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a low-pressure system over the Bay of Bengal strengthened into severe cyclonic storm Remal, which is predicted to make landfall between the beaches of West Bengal and Bangladesh at midnight on Sunday.

A Pre-Monsoon Storm

This season's first pre-monsoon cyclone in the Bay of Bengal is called Remal, which translates to "sand" in Arabic. In accordance with the local naming convention for cyclones in the northern Indian Ocean, Oman supplied the name.

The weather service has forecast exceptionally high levels of rainfall on May 26 and 27 in the coastal regions of north Odisha and West Bengal. Remal's effects on May 27 and 28 might potentially result in very high rainfall in several areas of northeast India.

Cloudy Skies and Initial Weather Impact

Cloudy skies were observed this morning in certain coastal areas of West Bengal, such as the Sagar Islands, Namkhana, and Bakkhali in South 24 Parganas. As the cyclone reached the coast, neighboring places saw light gusty winds and rain.

Union Minister of Earth Sciences, Kiren Rijiju tweets, "Currently maximum sustained wind speed of 90-100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph prevails around the cyclone centre. It is very likely to continue to move nearly northwards, intensify further and cross Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal coasts between Sagar Island and Khepupara, close to southwest of Mongla (Bangladesh) by midnight of today, the 26th May 2024 as a Severe Cyclonic Storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 110-120 kmph gusting to 135 kmph."

National Bulletin No 14 Update

Kiran added, "National Bulletin No. 14 based on 0830 hrs IST: Severe Cyclonic Storm “Remal” (pronounced as “Re-Mal”) over North Bay of Bengal (Cyclone Warning for West Bengal Coast: Red Message)" The Severe Cyclonic Storm “Remal” (pronounced as “Re-Mal”) over North Bay of Bengal moved nearly northwards, with a speed of 07 kmph during past 06 hours and lay centered at 0830 hrs IST of today, the 26th May, 2024 over North Bay of Bengal near latitude 19.8°N and longitude 89.3°E about 260 km south-southwest of Khepupara (Bangladesh), 310 km south of Mongla (Bangladesh), 240 km south-southeast of Sagar Islands (West Bengal) and 280 km south-southeast of Canning (West Bengal)."

she said, "Currently maximum sustained wind speed of 90-100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph prevails around the cyclone centre. It is very likely to continue to move nearly northwards, intensify further and cross Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal coasts between Sagar Island and Khepupara, close to southwest of Mongla (Bangladesh) by midnight of today, the 26th May 2024 as a Severe Cyclonic Storm with maximum sustained wind speed of 110-120 kmph gusting to 135 kmph."