Cyclonic storm “Maha” is likely to bring light to moderate rainfall at a few places in Konkan, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat until Saturday evening, the India Meteorological Department said. Squally winds of speeds up to 60 km per hour are likely to blow over the Goa-Maharashtra coasts until Saturday afternoon.

Pune district is on a thunder and lightning alert till Saturday. IMD Pune weather chief Anupam Kashyapi told The Times of India that Maharashtra is likely to get light to moderate rainfall in some places until Monday.

“There is considerable moisture incursion due to the presence of Maha though it is quite far from Maha,” Kashyapi said. “The cyclone on October 31 lay centered over Lakshadweep and adjoining southeast Arabian Sea.” Parts of Pune have received light rain since Wednesday.

Rainfall will reduce in Pune city from Sunday and may become negligible by November 7, Kashyapi said.

On Thursday, parts of Kerala experienced heavy rain, leading to the evacuation of over 1,000 people to 11 relief camps, PTI reported. The coastal areas of Ernakulam, Thrissur and Kannur districts were the most affected.

The India Meteorological Department said in a 4.50 pm bulletin on Friday that Maha continued to move west-northwestwards with a speed of 21 km per hour over the previous six hours. The weather department said Maha will intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm by Saturday morning.

The IMD said that Maha will have a maximum sustained surface wind speed of 150 to 160 km per hour, gusting to 175 km per hour by November 5. The storm will begin to weaken on the following day.

The IMD issued a warning to fisherpeople not to venture into the sea off the Goa-Maharashtra coast until Saturday afternoon and into east-central Arabian Sea till November 6.

This is the second cyclone in the Arabian Sea in the past few days. Cyclone Kyarr, which was categorised as a super cyclonic storm, passed over Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka before hitting the Oman coast on October 31.

Kyarr was the first super cyclonic storm in the Arabian Sea since Cyclone Gonu devastated Oman’s coast in 2007.

Now, follow and debate the day’s most significant stories on Scroll Exchange.