Maldives will not experience direct effects of tropical cyclone Phailin, states Met Office

Maldives Meteorological Centre (Met Office) has stated that Maldives will not feel the direct effects of tropical cyclone Phailin that is expected to hit the eastern coast states of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh in India, sometime today.

Met Office stated that the current bad weather experienced by the the Maldives is, in fact, due to the tropical cyclone, but said that it will not directly hit the Maldives as the cyclone is travelling towards eastern India, away from the Maldives.

The office revealed that scattered showers with a few thunderstorms will be experienced across the country, with a few heavy showers in the central atolls.

South, south-westerly winds upto 3 to13 miles per hour is expected in southern atolls, while south-west, westerly winds 9 to 15 knots elsewhere, with wind gust of 30 knots during showers, Met Office said.

The office revealed that seas will be slight in the south and moderate over rest of the country, with waves of height 2 to 5 feet in open seas. The office urged sea travellers to take note of current weather forecasts before embarking on their journey.

The Weather Channel reports that the tropical cyclone Phailin intensified rapidly in the Bay of Bengal on Thursday and is now headed for the northeast coast of India.

Phailin is forecast to make landfall along the coast of the state of Odisha or the far northeastern Andrha Pradesh state, northeast of the town of Visakhapatnam in India, on Saturday morning. The cyclone is forecast to approach the coast as the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane.