Chennai on Rain Alert as Cyclone ‘Montha’ Looms: IMD Warns of Severe Weather by October 28
Cyclone Montha brewing in the Bay of Bengal may hit India’s east coast by Oct 28. IMD issues orange alert for Chennai, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha with forecasts of heavy rain and strong winds.
Chennai on Rain Alert as Cyclone Montha Approaches: IMD Warns of Severe Weather by Oct 28
Chennai and a number of neighboring districts have been put on high alert following a statement from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) that a low-pressure area situated over the Bay of Bengal would escalate into a very severe cyclonic storm by October 28. The system will likely cover the whole of Tamil Nadu and parts of coastal Andhra Pradesh with heavy downpours, loud storms, and rough seas.
The storm, which will be named "Montha," will be Thailand's offering of a name meaning "beautiful flowers".
🌧️ Heavy Rain Forecast for Tamil Nadu
The IMD has placed an orange alert on Chennai, Tiruvallur, and Ranipet, indicating that they will receive the heaviest rainfall among the areas placed on alert on October 27. As the storm approaches, the coastal regions will be under heavy rain and lightning warned along with strong winds.
Widespread precipitation is forecasted for Tamil Nadu in the coming days, including the distribution of light to moderate showers with some isolated thunderstorms in Chennai and its suburbs on Saturday.
🌀 Cyclone ‘Montha’ Path and Intensity
According to the IMD’s latest midday update, the southeast Bay of Bengal depression has changed its position from further east to below in the south direction with a speed of 7 kmph and is now positioned about:
460 km west-southwest of Port Blair (Andaman & Nicobar Islands)
950 km east-southeast of Chennai (Tamil Nadu)
960 km southeast of Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh)
1030 km south-southeast of Gopalpur (Odisha)
The system is likely to get upgraded to a deep depression on October 26, a cyclonic storm the following morning, and the last step to a severe cyclonic storm on the evening of October 28 over the southwest and adjoining west-central Bay of Bengal.
According to the IMD, one of the possible scenarios is that the cyclone might take the north-northwest route and hit the Andhra coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam (near Kakinada) in the evening or at the night of October 28 with wind speeds of 90–100 kmph and maximum gusts of 110 kmph.
⚠️ Warnings for Andhra Pradesh and Odisha
The IMD has placed an orange alert on the ten Odisha districts—Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, and Malkangiri—for October 28.
The other districts will have to cope with “yellow” coding for heavy rains.
Next day after October 28 another orange alert has been announced for six districts—Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore, and Mayurbhanj—with 10 other districts advised to be on the lookout under a yellow alert.
🌩️ Impact on Karnataka
The weather system is also likely to affect the neighboring state of Karnataka. The rainfall pattern of Bengaluru and the surrounding area might change to moderate to heavy showers thus accompanied by gusty winds in the next 24 hours.
Due to a double weather system affecting southern India, the IMD has put the city under a yellow alert until October 26.
🧭 Summary
Cyclone Name: Montha (suggested by Thailand, meaning “beautiful flowers”)
Likely Formation Date: October 27, 2025
Expected Landfall: Between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam (Andhra coast) on October 28 night
Wind Speed: 90–100 kmph gusting to 110 kmph
Alerts: Orange for the northern districts of Tamil Nadu; orange/yellow for coastal Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
