The landfall process of Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu commenced over south coastal Andhra Pradesh at 1 am IST on Tuesday, November 3, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a post on X at 1:34 am. By 4:16 am the storm's eye was touching the coast and part of its wall cloud — the ring of strongest winds around the eye — had already moved onto land, the IMD said, with the landfall process still continuing.

Source: India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) on X, via Transclew live updates

This is the crossing itself, the major development that followed Awaaz Punjab's earlier landfall-countdown report, in which Murasu stood about 60 km off Kavali with 37 NDRF teams in place. At 2:30 am on Tuesday the centre lay about 30 km southeast of Ongole, 50 km northeast of Kavali and 100 km north-northeast of Nellore, near latitude 15.3°N and longitude 80.3°E, moving north-northwestwards at about 9 kmph, the IMD said in a post on X at 3:12 am. The IMD expects the centre to cross between Nellore and Narsapur, close to Ongole, by about 6 am.

Source: India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) on X, 3:12 am IST, Nov 3

1:00 am IST, Nov 3Landfall process commenced over south coastal Andhra Pradesh, per the IMD
100–110 kmphSustained winds at crossing, gusting to 120 kmph, per the IMD
30 km SE of OngoleCentre's position at 2:30 am IST, moving north-northwest at 9 kmph
1.0–1.5 mForecast storm surge above astronomical tide, highest in Bapatla, Krishna and Prakasam

A second report of the IMD bulletin, published by Dainik News Live and updated at 3:14 am IST, gave the same 1 am start and quoted the department directly: “The landfall process commenced at 0100 hours IST on November 3. The forward sector of the wall cloud is entering the coast, while the wall cloud region is very close to the coast.” That report placed the centre at 1:30 am about 40 km southeast of Ongole, 60 km northeast of Kavali and 70 km south of Bapatla.

Source: Dainik News Live — Cyclone Murasu Landfall Begins (updated 03:14 IST, Nov 3)

The IMD's 3 am bulletin expects Murasu to hold severe-cyclonic-storm strength as it crosses, then weaken to a cyclonic storm by 11:30 am on Tuesday, a deep depression by 11:30 pm and a depression by Wednesday noon, moving north towards Telangana. The department advises people in the affected areas to stay indoors, and Andhra Pradesh's disaster helpline is 1070. The storm is under continuous surveillance by Doppler weather radars at Chennai and Machilipatnam.

Source: IMD 3 am IST bulletin, Nov 3, via Transclew live updates

The crossing comes after a day of preparation on the coast: the National Disaster Response Force had deployed 37 teams across five states, including 13 in Andhra Pradesh, thousands of people were moved to relief shelters in vulnerable coastal districts, and flights were cancelled at Vijayawada, Tirupati, Visakhapatnam and Chennai, PTI reported in The Hindu BusinessLine's live coverage. Murasu is the second severe cyclone to hit this coast within a week, after Cyclone Arnab.

Source: PTI via The Hindu BusinessLine — Cyclone Murasu live updates, Nov 2

What happens next: the IMD expects the centre to finish crossing close to Ongole by about 6 am on Tuesday, with heavy to extremely heavy rain continuing over coastal Andhra Pradesh as the system moves inland and weakens. The department's next bulletin was due at 8:30 am IST.