The cyclonic storm, Kyant, over east central Bay of Bengal is likely to intensify in the next 24 hours and dampen Diwali festivities on October 30, across eastern India, including Bihar. 

Kyant means crocodile in Mon — the language spoken by the Mon people of Myanmar and Thailand. 

The cyclone, which originated in Myanmar, is expected to bring torrential rain along with high-velocity gusts. In addition to Kyant, the Met department has also warned of a separate surge of tropical moisture over eastern Bay of Bengal resulting in the formation of yet another tropical system later this week or early next week. The new system will bring additional rain to the state and the northeastern states. Kyant, in addition to the Met department’s earlier forecast on October 21 of rain in the state because of the formation of an upper-air cyclonic circulation over north Pakistan, is expected to play wet blanket this festive season. 

Patna Met director Sumendu Sengupta said: “The system is presently at 16.6°N and 89°E, which is about 530km east-southeast of Gopalpur in Odisha and around 610km east-southeast of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The port city of Machilipatnam in Tamil Nadu is around 850km east-northeast of the centre of the system. The cyclonic storm is expected to bring moisture and result in possible formation of rain-bearing clouds.”

Sengupta added: “Kyant may not make much of an impact on the state because the system is expected to move in west-southwest direction from the Bay of Bengal towards the states of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Had the depression moved northwards, the state would have been a victim to heavy rainfall. There will be some rain though, as the cyclone makes landfall in the adjoining states.”

Bihar’s post-monsoon season is regularly affected by tropical cyclones originating in the Bay of Bengal. Tropical cyclones in the state occur frequently in September-November, and during the Hathiya asterism (constellation — a group of stars forming a recognizable pattern that is traditionally named after its apparent form or identified with a mythological figure). Such cyclonic rain has proven to be beneficial for agriculture, especially the Rabi crop, as the soil gets the requisite moisture ahead of the sowing season. 

A weatherman added that October is generally a favourable month for the formation of depressions and cyclones over the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea. In October 2014, Patna and other districts witnessed rain as cyclone Hudhud landed, and again the state suffered moderate to heavy rainfall when cyclone Phailin hit in the same month of 2013. 

Kyant will be the second cyclone this year, after Roanu hit the state in May and caused moderate to heavy rainfall. As a result of the cyclone’s imminent landfall, the onset of winter in Bihar could get delayed by a week or so. 

“The southwest monsoon’s withdrawal will be delayed by the storm, and so winter will arrive later than the expected first week of November,” said Met director Sengupta. “Favourable conditions for winter and its chill to set in, will occur only after the dissipation of the atmospheric disturbance,” he added.