Depression in the Bay of Bengal (BoB) moved west-southwest in the past 12hr with a speed of about 8kmph. It is now located less than 100km away from the Sri Lanka coast . The weather system will continue moving equatorward and likely to cross Sri Lanka coast between Batticaloa and Colombo, during evening hours today.
Joint Typhoon Warning Centre at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii had earlier issued cyclone alert which now has been withdrawn. Deep convection associated with the system is getting sheared. Also, the cloud lines are getting disorganised. Though, the environmental conditions favoured marginal intensification on account of sea surface temperature and vertical wind shear, but the southwest movement of the system is decreasing the coriolis force, so important for growth of system. Land proximity of Sri Lanka is resulting entrainment and consequent weakening. Accordingly, the potential for development in to a significant tropical cyclone is dropped to low and least.
Depression is expected to move equatorward slowly and cross Sri Lanka coast. Squally winds and heavy to very showers are expected along and off the coast of Sri Lanka for the next 24hr. These fierce rains will reduce in intensity and spread tomorrow. Proximity of the system to coastal parts of South Tamil Nadu run the risk of heavy rains at few places, accompanied with strong winds.
Peripherals of the weather system will have light to moderate rain and showers over interiors of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, tomorrow and day after. Depression will gradually move southward but remain over Gulf of Mannar, West Coast of Sri Lanka and Comorin region for the next 3 days. Depression will keep on weakening and is likely to get filled up over the same region by 04th Feb 2023.
