Cyclonic storm along with heavy rains in the offing over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry by April 29

Chennai Apr 24: The IMD weather forecast said that a thunderstorm accompanied with hail, gusty winds with speeds reaching 30-40 kmph and lightning is expected at isolated places over Himachal Pradesh.

It has also predicted the same for areas in Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar, the gangetic West Bengal belt, Odisha and south interior Karnataka. Isolated places in Chhattisgarh could also expect the same. While a thunderstorm and dust storm accompanied with gusty winds and lightning is expected at isolated places over West Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), a low-pressure area is likely to develop over the Bay of Bengal to the southeast of Sri Lanka by Thursday, which is expected to move northwest towards Tamil Nadu coast and intensify into a cyclonic storm by April 29.

A Meteorological Department official said that the low-pressure situation is very likely to intensify into a depression by April 27, move towards Tamil Nadu coast and intensify into a cyclonic storm by April 29, as reported by news agency ANI.

The weather department official in Chennai said, "Due to this cyclonic activity, moderate to heavy rain likely to occur over coastal Tamil Nadu & Puducherry 29th April onwards."

On the other hand, Skymet Weather agency stated that the depression which is expected over the Bay of Bengal may not move towards the Tamil Nadu coast and may not affect areas like Chennai.

According to IMD's weather forecast, light to moderate rain is likely to hit isolated places in Tamil Nadu till April 27.