New Delhi, Dec 11 : A low pressure intensifying in the Bay of Bengal is expected to bring a heavy spell of rain to Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu by this weekend, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday.

“The low-pressure area over central parts of the south Bay of Bengal and adjoining equatorial Indian Oceans is likely to intensify into a deep depression during the next three days, bringing moderate to heavy rainfall in the south coastal Andhra Pradesh and north Tamil Nadu,” the IMD said.

With wind speed expected to reach 50-60 km/hour, the IMD has also issued a warning to fishermen to “not venture into the above sea areas”.

According to the Skymet Weather’s forecast, the low-pressure area is tracking in west-northwest direction towards Tamil Nadu coast. “As the system nears, we expect scattered rains to commence over coastal Tamil Nadu including Chennai around December 14,” it said.

By December 17, however, this weather system will move away towards northwest leading to a significant decrease in rain activity.

For the next 48 hours, the IMD has forecast the Chennai skies to be generally cloudy. The maximum temperature will be 31 degrees Celsius and the minimum 24 degrees Celsius.

IANS

Noumea (New Caledonia), Dec 5: A 7.5 magnitude quake hit the coast of the Pacific island of New Caledonia, prompting warnings that tsunami waves of up to three metres can reach New Caledonia and Vanuatu.

The quake struck at a depth of about 10 kilometre at 4.18 GMT, the US Geological Survey reports. The epicentre was recorded as 168km east-south-east of Tadine, a town on France’s New Caledonia.

New Zealand’s Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management though tweeted that there was no tsunami threat to the nation’s coasts even though the tsunami alert issued for coasts within 1,000km, the BBC reported.

The USGS also recorded a series of aftershocks, two of them at 5.9 magnitude.

New Caledonia has a population of about 270,000 and is part of the Pacific’s “ring of fire”, where many earthquakes occur.

IANS

Dehradun, Dec 4: A quake measuring 3 on the Richter scale was felt in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand early on Tuesday forcing residents to rush out of their houses, officials said.

The tremors were felt in the Barkot region for a few seconds at around 6.20 am. Its epicentre was in Yamunanagar in Haryana, District Disaster Management officer Devendra Patwal said.

IANS