According to the IMD, the depression is very likely to continue to move north-northwestwards and intensify further into a cyclonic storm

With northeast monsoon season's first cyclone likely to form over the Bay of Bengal on Wednesday, IMD has upgraded its rain alert for Chennai.

Once intensified, the storm will be identified as Fengal, a name proposed by Saudi Arabia. This is the second cyclone in the post-monsoon season to affect the Indian coast after Cyclone Dana, which crossed Odisha as a ‘severe’ category storm in late October.

If the deep depression intensifies into a cyclone, it will be named as Fengal, according to the rules of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) on naming cyclones.

A deep depression in the southwest Bay of Bengal is forecasted to develop into a cyclone by Wednesday. It will likely move towards Tamil Nadu, while closely missing the Sri Lankan coast, according to the India Meteorological Department.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has reported that a depression over the Southwest Bay of Bengal and the nearby East Equatorial Indian Ocean is advancing towards the coasts of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu.

A deep depression in the Bay of Bengal is intensifying and expected to become a cyclonic storm, named Fengal, by November 27. It's currently southeast of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, and moving towards the Tamil Nadu coast.

Moving north-northwestwards at 12 km/h, the storm system is expected to bypass Sri Lanka’s coast and approach Tamil Nadu within the next two days. However, slightly cooler sea surface temperatures closer to the coastline could weaken the system marginally before landfall.