Low pressure area likely to develop over Bay of Bengal, IMD to name it Cyclone Gati

New Delhi, June 06: In early next week, the low pressure area is likely to develop over the Bay of Bengal, the weather department is predicting. The low pressure area would form somewhere near the coast of Myanmar. This would be the first stage of a cyclonic disturbance. However, not all low pressure areas intensify into cyclones.

Presently, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) is predicting that the low pressure area would form over the Bay of Bengal by June 8 and that it would help advance the monsoon, bringing good rainfall over parts of India next week.

Speaking to a news agency, IMD chief Mrutunjay Mohapatra said, "This --the predicted low pressure cyclonic circulation-- will help advance monsoon and bring good rainfall during the next week."

In its tropical cyclones bulletin dated June 5, the IMD has also predicted that the low pressure area has a "low", or 1-25 per cent, chance of turning into a "depression" by mid next week. A depression is the second stage on the IMD's eight-level cyclone classification system.

If this predicted weather disturbance reaches the fourth stage, that is the "cyclonic storm", on the IMD's scale, it would be named as Cyclone Gati.

In 2020, India has already experienced two cyclones in the North Indian Ocean cyclone season. The first was Cyclone Amphan, which struck West Bengal on May 20 while the other, cyclone Nisarga, formed over the Arabian Sea and hit the coast of Maharashtra near Mumbai on June 3.

In the next few days, more will be known about the low pressure area's possible intensification when the IMD releases more detailed predictions.