Cyclone Fengal may retain status at least until 5.30 pm this evening
Cyclone Fengal was located at 8.30 am at about 120 km east-northeast of Puducherry, around where it is forecast to make a landfall towards the evening, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) update issued at 1.30 pm said.
- Also read: Fengal Cyclone and Chennai Rains status updates Live
As noticed earlier, the cyclone was located closer to Chennai relative to the north Tamil Nadu coast, 110 km to the south-east, rather than Puducherry, its projected destination to the immediate south, and 200 km to the north-northeast of Nagapattinam.
The IMD expects the cyclone to retain its status until 5.30 pm, which goes to corroborate roughly the revised timeline of its landfall, and it may weaken a round as a deep depression towards midnight.
The IMD retained its forecast for the system to move nearly westwards (some models hinted at a west-southward movement) and cross the north Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coasts between Karaikal and Mahabalipuram, close to Puducherry, with wind speeds of 70-80 km/hr gusting to 90 km/hr during the evening.
