'Severe' cyclone Lehar set to hit Andhra Pradesh coast soon

Just week after being hit by cyclone Helen, Andhra Pradesh is again preparing to face another 'very severe' cyclone, Lehar, located in the Bay of Bengal.

NASA’s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite called TRMM satellite passed over Lehar and measured rainfall and cloud heights to give scientists an understanding of how the storm is behaving.

The TRMM instruments found that rain was falling at a rate greater than 64 mm per 2.5 inches per hour in Lehar’s center and in a band of intense rain wrapping around Lehar’s northwestern side. Some strong thunderstorms within Lehar were reaching heights above 15.25 km per 9.5 miles.

Northern Andhra Pradesh and southern Odisha are expected to feel Lehar’s effects on Wednesday, when winds are expected to reach up to 91.7 knots per 105.6 mph per 170 kph.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) have predicted that Lehar’s sustained wind speeds will reach 95 knots per 109 mph on Thursday and then decrease to about 85 knots per 98 mph before hitting India’s east-central coast.