Cyclone Fani to hit Odisha on May 3 with wind speed of 205 kmph: IMD

The department has already released a yellow warning for Odisha coast on Tuesday evening leading to the Election Commission lifting the Model Code of Conduct from 11 districts in the state

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday said the cyclonic storm 'Fani' has turned severely strong while moving northward and is scheduled to hit Odisha on May 3 with wind speed ranging to a maximum of 205 kilometres per hour.

"Yesterday's cyclonic storm 'FANI' (pronounced as 'FONI') over southeast Bay of Bengal (BoB) and neighbourhood moved nearly northwards and intensified into a severe cyclonic storm the same evening (1730 hrs IST)."

"It is very likely to intensify further into an extremely severe cyclonic storm during next 12 hours. It is very likely to move northwestwards till 01st May evening and thereafter recurve north-northeastwards and cross Odisha Coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali, to the south of Puri around May 3 afternoon with maximum sustained wind of speed 175-185 km/h gusting to 205 km/h," a press release by IMD reads.

The department has already released a yellow warning for Odisha coast on Tuesday evening leading to the Election Commission lifting the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) from 11 districts in the state.

IMD has also issued a moderate to heavy rainfall warning for the states such as Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal for May 2 and 3. It has also advised total suspension of fishing operations, evacuation from coastal areas and diversion or suspension of rail and road traffic in the areas which are going to be affected.

IMD has predicted thunderstorm and dust storm for Delhi on Wednesday after temperature reached a season-high of 43.7 degree Celsius on Tuesday in the national capital.

Parts of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh received sudden snowfall on Wednesday morning bringing down the temperature. Jharkhand also received light rainfall and winds giving them some respite from the heat on Tuesday.