106 mm of heavy rain has already been recorded at Visakhapatnam since Thursday and more rain is expected to occur for the next 24 hours. Kakinada also recorded 25 mm of rain in the past few hours.
“We are expecting heavy to very heavy rain in Guntur, Godavari and Krishna districts of Andhra Pradesh for the next 24 hours”, says a senior Meteorologist at Skymetweather.com. “Yes, the weather in south India will continue to be rainy and cloudy for the next 48 hours however, the rainfall figures will drop drastically to record only around 5 to 10 mm”, he added further.
Coastal stations of Andhra will not receive rain alone. The rain belt is expected to shift further inland, giving 20 to 40 mm of rain over Telengana and Rayalaseema within the next 24 hours. Rain at a few places is also expected at south coastal Odisha.
Wind speed of 70 to 75 kmph at landfall, may not cause any major damage to life and property. Though, sea tides could be as high as 1.5 meters.
“Though cyclone Helen intensified from a mild cyclone into a severe cyclonic storm, it was clear that its effects will be nowhere close to the damage done by Cyclone Phailin”, shared another meteorologist Mahesh Palawat from Skymet.
Current forecasts suggest that Cyclone Helen will weaken rapidly into a depression by tonight. Thereafter it will weaken into a low pressure system and then dissipate entirely.
Due to rain caused by Helen, day temperatures in Andhra Pradesh will drop by 2 to 3 degrees, settling between 24 to 25 degrees Celcius. Nights will be cool and breezy with minimums hovering around 22 degrees. The maximum temperatures could drop marginally in Telangana, Rayalseem and Odisha as well.
The effects of Cyclone Helen will remain confined to South India. North, east and central India will enjoy fair weather.