The strong low-pressure systems raging South of the Equator continued to cause concern along the Indian coast through Sunday despite the large distances separating them. Swell waves from the nearest system named 96S (deep South of Sri Lanka; the other, 93S, is further down to the South-South-West, off Madagascar), have been pounding the entire Kerala coast.
HOLDING STRONG
The systems have not shown signs of weakening, and are still under watch for signs of further intensification as a depression or even a cyclone. Cyclones turn clock-wise South of the Equator (anti-clockwise in the North) due to the 'Coriolis effect,' and 96S has been sending in Westerly to South-Westerly waves to the Kerala coast.
The Hyderabad-based Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Sciences (Incois) has kept the coastal states on alert about the threat from the swell waves from 96S. It has warned of rough seas and intermittent wave surges along the Kollam, Alappuzha, Kochi, Ponnani and Kasaragod coasts in Kerala and has advised people in these areas to remain cautious until tomorrow evening. The low-lying areas of Kerala, the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and West Bengal are particularly vulnerable to swell waves, Incois said.
HOT OVER VIDARBHA
Its multi-model operational forecasting system estimated that there is a strong indication that high-energy swell waves with a height of two to three metres could batter the Indian coasts until Wednesday. What 96S has also done is to cause terminal damage to a helpful trough over the Maldives-Laccadives Sea that has been setting up clouds and rain over South Kerala and adjoining Tamil Nadu.
The sun has come back with a vengeance and has been beating down on the geography over the past couple of days, confining rains to isolated parts of the interior in the evenings. All would now depend on an cyclonic circulation/ low-pressure area taking birth in the roughs seas in the South and getting transmitted into the Arabian Sea/ Bay of Bengal.
Meanwhile, a heat wave is building to the North, with Vidarbha in East Maharashtra being the core area under its influence over the next three to four days.