Cyclone Fengal was located at 8.30 am at about 120 km east-northeast of Puducherry, around where it is forecast to make a landfall towards the evening, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) update issued at 1.30 pm said.
As noticed earlier, the cyclone was located closer to Chennai relative to the north Tamil Nadu coast, 110 km to the south-east, rather than Puducherry, its projected destination to the immediate south, and 200 km to the north-northeast of Nagapattinam.
The IMD expects the cyclone to retain its status until 5.30 pm, which goes to corroborate roughly the revised timeline of its landfall, and it may weaken a round as a deep depression towards midnight.
The IMD retained its forecast for the system to move nearly westwards (some models hinted at a west-southward movement) and cross the north Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coasts between Karaikal and Mahabalipuram, close to Puducherry, with wind speeds of 70-80 km/hr gusting to 90 km/hr during the evening.