Cyclone ‘Ditwah’ soon? New deep depression forms after ‘rarest of rare’ storm Senyar; Chennai on alert

WHile the brave scheme in sound of malacca cane which intensified and became Cyclone ‘Senyar’ moved aside from the Indian coast, another low-pressure area over southwest Bay of Bengal has turned into a deep depression and is expected become a cyclonic storm, with impact possible on Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coast.The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday Cyclone Senyar lay 850 km southeast of Car Nicobar - northernmost island of the Nicobar Islands - and was expected to weaken into a depression by evening.Another weather system, however, is parallelly building over southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas of southeast Sri Lanka and Equatorial Indian Ocean, according to the IMD.Cyclone ‘Ditwah’ soon?While IMD's latest X post - at around 10:15 am on Thursday, said the deep depression over southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining Sri Lanka coast is very likely to continue to move nearly north-northwestwards and intensify further into a cyclonic storm in next 12 hours.Low-pressure systems over Indian region are classified based on the maximum sustained winds speed, with system with maximum sustained three minutes surface winds of 34 knots or more is called as cyclonic storm, according to IMD.If and when the latest depression over southwest Bay of Bengal intensifies into a cyclonic storm, it will be called Cyclone ‘Ditwah’, according to the roster which lists names of tropical cyclones over north Indian Ocean.“The depression over southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining Sri Lanka coast movednorth-northwestwards with a speed of 8 kmph during past 6 hours, intensified into a deep depression and lay centered at 0530 hrs IST of today, the 27th November 2025 over the same region near latitude 6.3°N and longitude 82.4°E,about 150 km east of Hambantota (Sri Lanka) and 170 km south-southeast ofBatticaloa (Sri Lanka). It is very likely to continue to move nearly north-northwestwards across southwest Bay of Bengal & adjoining Sri Lanka and intensify further into a cyclonic storm during next 12 hours,” IMD said in its post on X. Thereafter, it is very likely to continue to move north-northwestwards across southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining Sri Lanka coast towards north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradeshcoast during subsequent 48 hours, IMD added.Several Tamil Nadu districts, including Chennai, Nagapattinam, Thiruvallur, Thanjavur etc., were placed under yellow and orange alert by the IMD for November 27, 28 and 29.‘Rare’ Cyclone SenyarCyclonic storm Senyar, meanwhile, emerged in the Strait of Malacca, which is a narrow stretch of water located between Peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian island of Sumatra, with Singapore at its southeastern end. The northwestern end of the Strait of Malacca opens directly into the Andaman Sea.Cyclone Senyar moved away from Indian territory and was reportedly headed towards Malaysia and was near Sumatra, according to Malaysian news portal NST, which quoted MetMalaysia director-general Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip.The weather expert and many others termed the Cyclone Senyar ‘rare’ as it is the first time a weather system of thE strength of cyclonic storm has ever been recorded in the Strait of Malacca."The last one, a tropical depression, occurred in 2017 and affected Penang. But for a system to reach tropical storm intensity, as we are now seeing near Sumatra, this is a first," Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip said.MetMalaysia has issued a tropical storm alert, with the system detected at latitude 4.5 degrees north and longitude 97.9 degrees east."It is moving west-southwest at 9kph with maximum sustained winds of 83kph. Its closest point to Malaysia is approximately 284km southwest of George Town, Penang."The intensification is expected to bring continuous heavy rain, strong winds and rough seas to several northern states," read the advisory.Cyclonic storm Senyar, now expected to impact Northern Sumatra with heavy rains and potential flooding. Has been described as 'rarest of rare' by many.One user on X with the accound handle @chennaisweather said “even if short lived this cyclone remains one of the rarest ever recorded near the Malacca Strait, making this a historic meteorological event.” “Based on the latest forecast track from the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) could become the first tropical cyclone in recorded history to make landfall in the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia by later midnight, and the second overall — after Typhoon #Vamei in 2001,” another user wrote on X.