Tropical Cyclone Vardah in Bay of Bengal Expected to Strengthen and May Threaten India This Weekend

Tropical Cyclone Vardah is forecast to gain strength the next few days in the Bay of Bengal and will likely impact India late this weekend into early next week.
The area of disturbed weather that eventually formed into Vardah impacted southern Thailand earlier this week. At least 14 people were killed by severe flooding.
 
Vardah is currently at tropical storm strength. It is forecast to intensify and may become the equivalent of a Category 1 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale by this weekend, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC).
A general track to the west-northwest is anticipated over the next few days in the direction of India. Vardah is expected to arrive along the Indian coast sometime late Sunday into early Monday, possibly pushing inland somewhere between Chennai and Visakhapatnam.

Eastern coastal areas of India will need to be on alert beginning this weekend for the possibility of a tropical cyclone impacting the region. There is uncertainty on how strong this system will be when it approaches the coast of India, but current indications are that unfavorable winds aloft may cause Vardah to be on a weakening trend from its peak intensity.
Light to moderate rainfall and gusty winds may develop as early as Sunday evening local time over coastal Andhra Pradesh in eastern India. Assuming this system moves inland, heavy rainfall is possible, which would bring the threat of flooding late this weekend into early next week.