New Cyclone Brewing in Bay of Bengal as ‘Rare’ Senyar Moves Away; Tamil Nadu, Puducherry on Alert

As Cyclone Senyar — the rare storm that formed in the Strait of Malacca — moves away from the Indian coast, another weather system in the southwest Bay of Bengal has intensified into a deep depression and is expected to strengthen into a cyclonic storm with potential impact on Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Thursday that Senyar was located about 850 km southeast of Car Nicobar and was likely to weaken into a depression by evening.

Cyclone ‘Ditwah’ next?
Parallelly, a second system over the southwest Bay of Bengal, southeast Sri Lanka and the Equatorial Indian Ocean is developing rapidly. IMD said the deep depression is “very likely” to move north–northwestwards and intensify into a cyclonic storm in the next 12 hours. If it strengthens as expected, it will be named Cyclone Ditwah, as per the North Indian Ocean cyclone naming list.

The system, now centred near 6.3°N and 82.4°E, has been moving at 8 kmph and is expected to track across the Bay of Bengal and along the Sri Lanka coast before heading toward north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh over the next 48 hours.

Tamil Nadu districts including Chennai, Nagapattinam, Thiruvallur and Thanjavur remain under yellow and orange alerts from November 27–29.

‘Rarest of Rare’ Cyclone Senyar
Meanwhile, Cyclone Senyar continues to draw global attention for its unusual formation in the Strait of Malacca — a narrow corridor between Peninsular Malaysia and Sumatra. Meteorologists say a storm of this intensity has never been recorded in the strait.

Malaysia’s MetDepartment said the system, with sustained winds of 83 kmph, was heading toward northern Sumatra and remained the closest about 284 km southwest of George Town, Penang. Authorities warned of heavy rain, strong winds and rough seas in several northern Malaysian states.

Experts have described Senyar as a “historic meteorological event.” One weather enthusiast on X wrote: “Even if short-lived, this cyclone remains one of the rarest ever recorded near the Malacca Strait.”