The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) today said that the deep depression which had formed in the Bay of Bengal near Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu, bordering Kerala, on Wednesday has now intensified into a cyclonic storm named Ockhi. Cyclone Ockhi’s pre-determined name has been contributed by Bangladesh.

With a speed of 38 kmph at 8:30 Thursday morning, the cyclone lay centred near latitude 7.5°N and Longitude 77.5°E, about 340 km west-northwest of Galle in Sri Lanka, 60 Km south of Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu and 120 km southwest of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala and 480 km east­southeast of Minicoy in Lakshadweep. It has moved west-northwestwards towards Lakshadweep Islands in the southeast Arabian Sea.

The MET department predicts that the cyclone can turn severe for districts in Kerala and south Tamil Nadu’s in the next 24 hours.