Bay cyclone impacts weather in Kerala

http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/19/stories/2010051954790400.htm

The following is the text of my monsoon-watch story in The Hindu on May 19:
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Depression over the bay takes the form of a full-fledged cyclonic storm, named ‘Laila.'

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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A full-fledged cyclonic storm, ‘Laila,' was spinning over southeast and the adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal on Tuesday, impacting the weather over Kerala.

Monday's depression over the bay had graduated into the cyclonic storm and had been moving towards the east coast of the peninsula. Around noon on Tuesday it lay centred over a point nearly 570 km east-southeast of Chennai.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday said the system was likely to intensify further and move in a west-northwest direction for some more time and then move in a northwest to north direction during the next 72 hours towards the Andhra Pradesh coast.

Satellite pictures showed rainclouds spinning towards the storm from the seas all around, even from southeast Arabian Sea. Within the far outer rings of the influence of the cyclone, a trough was in position off the north Kerala coast precipitating widespread rainfall in the area.

Pattambi in Palakkad district received a heavy downpour of 7 cm during the 24 hours ending at 8.30 a.m. on Tuesday.

More than a dozen other rain measuring centres of the IMD in the State measured rainfall ranging between 4 cm and 1 cm.

Director of the Meteorology Centre in Thiruvananthapuram K. Santhosh said the prospects were for continued widespread rainfall in the State for the next two or three days.

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