A fresh low-pressure area formed over the south Andaman Sea at 5:30 am IST on Thursday, October 29, and is likely to strengthen into a depression over the south-east Bay of Bengal within the next 48 hours, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in its bulletin. The system developed under the influence of an upper-air cyclonic circulation over the south Andaman Sea and adjoining areas.

Source: IMD bulletin via DY365

According to the IMD, the low is very likely to move west-northwestwards and become a well-marked low-pressure area over the south Andaman Sea and adjoining Andaman and Nicobar Islands during the next 24 hours. Continuing in the same direction, it is then very likely to concentrate into a depression over the south-east Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the Andaman Sea during the following 24 hours — taking the expected depression stage to around October 31.

5:30 am IST, 29 OctWhen the low-pressure area formed over the south Andaman Sea
24 hoursExpected time to become a well-marked low-pressure area
~48 hoursIMD window for it to concentrate into a depression over the south-east Bay of Bengal

The new system is a separate development from Cyclone Arnab, whose remnant the IMD tracked on Thursday as a depression over south Chhattisgarh and adjoining south Odisha, centred about 20 km west of Jagdalpur at 5:30 am IST and expected to weaken into a well-marked low-pressure area by Thursday evening as it moved nearly northwards.

Source: The Hindu BusinessLine

Arnab's remnant continues to drive heavy rain over central India, with the Hindu BusinessLine reporting the IMD's fresh depression alert alongside continued wet weather in Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, and heavy coastal Andhra Pradesh totals including 24 cm at Ichchapuram and 22 cm at Sompeta.

Fishing and naval communities in the Bay of Bengal are being advised to stay alert: Sri Lanka's Department of Meteorology issued an amber advisory for deep-sea areas of the Bay, warning that winds could reach up to 55 kmph at times and seas could turn rough as the Andaman system intensifies towards October 31.

Source: TBS News / Sri Lanka Met advisory via News9

The IMD said both systems remain under continuous surveillance, including by Doppler weather radars. Coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, are the areas most directly in the new system's projected west-northwestward path over the coming days.