Severe weather expected, impacts lessening after today

The Meteorology Department has issued a red alert for Cyclone PHENGAL over the southwestern Bay of Bengal for land, deep and shallow sea areas around the island.

According to the alert, the Deep Depression over the southwestern Bay of Bengal moved north-northwestward and intensified into Cyclonic Storm ‘PHENGAL’ and was located about 280 km northeast of Kankasanthurai and 310 km north-northeast of Trincomalee today, November 29, at 14:30. , 2024.

It is likely to move west-northwest and cross the north Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coast as a cyclonic storm around noon on November 30, the report said.

The system’s influence on the island’s weather can be expected to gradually diminish after today (29).

Meanwhile, the northern and north-central provinces and Trincomalee district will experience occasional showers or thunderstorms. Heavy downpours of more than 100mm are likely in some places in the Northern Province.

There will be occasional rainfall in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North Western provinces, as well as in the Galle, Matara, Matale and Kandy districts. There will be showers or thunderstorms in several places on the island in the evening or overnight.

The northern, north-central, north-western, eastern, central and southern provinces can expect strong winds of around 60 km/h at times.

The deep and shallow sea areas off the coast extending from Batticaloa to Puttalam via Trincomalee and Kankasanthurai will be rough and very choppy as wind speeds may increase to 60-70 kmph at times. Very heavy showers or thunderstorms are likely in some areas of these areas.

Swell waves of about 2.5-3.0 m may increase in offshore areas extending from Batticaloa to Kankasanthurai via Trincomalee. (this does not apply to sushi). There is a possibility that coastal marine areas from the coast extending from Batticaloa to Kankasanthurai via Trincomalee may experience surges due to swell waves, the Met said. The department said:

The naval and fishing communities are warned not to venture into deep and shallow sea areas off the coast stretching from Batticaloa to Puttalam via Trincomalee and Kankasanthurai until further notice.

They are also requested to be attentive to future advisories issued by the Department of Meteorology in this regard.

The public is also urged to contact their local disaster management authorities for emergency assistance and to closely monitor future guidance from the Department of Meteorology in this regard.