The severe cyclonic storm ‘Montha’ crossed the Andhra Pradesh coast last night and completed the landfall process around midnight. It moved across parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The severe cyclone weakened swiftly after crossing the coastline—first into a tropical storm and then into a deep depression in the early forenoon hours of today. Moving north-northwest, the system has further weakened into a depression. The storm has cleared the stretch of Andhra Pradesh and, as a weakened system, is moving across the Bhadrachalam–Kothagudem axis in Telangana. The weakened system may take a recurving course toward the north-northeast and stretch across north Chhattisgarh and east Madhya Pradesh in the next 24 hours. Further, as a low-pressure area, it may track along north Jharkhand, south Bihar, and parts of north Odisha in the subsequent 24 hours.
The severe storm appears to have crossed the coast between Machilipatnam and Narsapur, remaining in proximity to Machilipatnam. The storm did not seem to have a direct hit at Kakinada. There was no heavy rainfall within 70–80 km on either side of Kakinada along the coastline. The belt of heavy rains has been confined rather far from the port city of Kakinada. Chief amounts of rainfall were: Kavali–220 mm, Bapatla–123 mm, Nellore–97 mm, and Nandyal–110 mm. Other stations close to the track of the storm received moderate rainfall, which included: Kakinada–14 mm, Narsapur–12 mm, Machilipatnam–28 mm, and Vijayawada–27 mm. As the storm neared, the coastline witnessed sustained wind speeds of 90–95 kmph, gusting up to 110 kmph.
As a cyclonic storm, the system was centered 100 km west abeam of Kakinada. This position, after crossing the coast, validates that the storm avoided a direct hit on Kakinada. The spread of cloud clusters is still dominant over land, covering parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and the peripheries of north interior Karnataka and Vidarbha. The storm, on a recurving course, will further extend its reach over Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and later toward the eastern states of Jharkhand, Bihar, and Odisha.
