Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu is churning over the west-central Bay of Bengal and is projected to make landfall near Ongole along the south Andhra Pradesh coast by midnight, bringing gale-force winds up to 120 kmph, heavy rainfall, and multi-state weather alerts across southern and eastern India.
India’s eastern coastline faces its second major weather disruption in less than a week as Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu tracks northwestward over the Westcentral and adjoining Southwest Bay of Bengal. The system originated from a low-pressure area that developed on October 31, rapidly strengthened into a cyclonic storm, and attained severe cyclonic status. The name Murasu, which translates to “war drum” in Tamil, was proposed by India in 2020 under the North Indian Ocean naming convention, drawing on traditional instruments used in ancient kingdoms to broadcast public notices and disaster warnings.
Landfall Timing and Wind Intensity Warnings Along the Andhra Coast
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red cyclone warning for the Andhra Pradesh and adjoining northern Tamil Nadu coasts as the storm advanced at a speed of 22 kmph. Forecasters pin the expected landfall between Nellore and Narsapur, close to Ongole, spanning from late Monday night into the early hours of Tuesday.
It is very likely to continue to move northwestwards and cross the south Andhra Pradesh coast as a Severe Cyclonic Storm with wind speed of 100 to 110 kmph gusting 120 kmph between Nellore and Narsapur close to Ongole during midnight (2330 Hrs IST) of 2nd to early hours (0400 Hrs IST) of 3rd November, 2026.
Weather Agency, India Meteorological Department
Coastal areas braced for destructive gales capable of damaging thatched and kutcha houses, lifting rooftops, snapping power and communication lines, and uprooting trees. Fishermen remain under strict advisories prohibiting travel into the Southeast Bay of Bengal and restricting movement across the Southwest Bay of Bengal until Wednesday morning.
Multi-State Rainfall Disruptions and Regional Alerts
Beyond the immediate landfall zone, the severe cyclonic system triggers widespread heavy-to-extremely-heavy precipitation across multiple states. Coastal Andhra Pradesh faces red warnings for torrential rains, while Rayalaseema, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal, and Telangana are placed under orange alerts. Regional forecasts also track heavy rainfall extending into Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Mahe, Odisha, and Karnataka over a two-day span.
In neighboring Odisha, where agricultural communities are already grappling with saturated soil and flooded fields from Cyclone Arnab just days prior, officials report renewed anxiety. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi announced special relief measures, while agricultural authorities note that standing paddy crops in districts like Ganjam, Kandhamal, and Gajapati sustained heavy damage. Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari detailed ongoing evacuation drives in vulnerable, landslide-prone terrain backed by deployed ODRAF, NDRF, and Fire Services teams.
Andhra Pradesh Disaster Preparedness and Power Infrastructure Deployments
Reviewing emergency readiness through the Real Time Governance Society, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu directed district collectors to maintain maximum alertness. Although state assessments indicate that Murasu’s overall impact may stay lower than that of Cyclone Arnab, authorities are taking no chances with water management or infrastructure protection.
- Deployment of six National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams and seven State Disaster Response Force squads across vulnerable districts such as Krishna, Bapatla, Guntur, Nellore, and Prakasam.
- Dispatch of three additional NDRF teams comprising 90 personnel from the 4th Battalion located near Arakkonam to support Andhra Pradesh disaster management.
- Arrangement by the Tamil Nadu government to dispatch 500 electricity department personnel across 25 teams, accompanied by essential equipment, following a direct request from Chief Minister Naidu.
- Pre-positioning of 31,000 electricity poles across field stations from Srikakulam to Krishna districts, with an estimated 8,000 poles potentially exposed to gale winds in south coastal and Rayalaseema regions.
Projected Track and Post-Landfall Weakening
Meteorological models indicate that after crossing the coast near Ongole, the system will maintain its structural integrity before interacting with regional upper atmospheric dynamics. The IMD anticipates that the storm will steadily weaken into a depression by the morning of November 4. Simultaneously, the system’s interaction with an upper tropospheric trough shifting toward 75°E will prevent it from drifting westward, steering its recurvature northward and north-northeastward as weather conditions gradually begin to clear.
