IMD lifts red alert for Kerala, but warns of downpour in coastal Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu; no respite from Karnataka floods yet, says Skymet

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday lifted the red alert for rainfall across Kerala. On Monday, the weather forecasting agency had issued a red alert and predicted "heavy to extremely heavy" rainfall in various districts of Kerala.

Meanwhile, 'Orange Alert' warnings have been issued for Idukki and 'Yellow alert' for Pathanamthitta, Malappuram, Kozhikode and Wayanad districts in Kerala. In the state, Pamba river at Thumpamon and Kaveri river at Palakdavu are also flowing above their danger mark, reported ANI.

The red alert means that the area will receive very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall, an orange alert denotes heavy to very heavy rainfall in a particular area, while a yellow alert is for weather conditions that do not pose an immediate threat to the general population.

The weather forecasting organisation has further predicted that Kerala is expected to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places accompanied by thunderstorm and lightning for the next five days. The organisation has advised fishermen not to venture near the coast for the next few days.

The weather forecast agency has further predicted that downpour is likely to occur over Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal on Tuesday. Isolated places over Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, east Assam, Nagaland, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Konkan and Goa are likely to witness thunderstorm accompanied by lightning.

It said that squally weather is very likely to prevail along the coastline in peninsular India. The areas included are east-central and adjoining southeast of the Arabian Sea along with Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala coasts, Lakshadweep and Comorin area and over southwest and adjoining the west-central Bay of Bengal along with north Tamil Nadu, south Andhra Pradesh coast.

In the All India Weather Warning Bulletin, IMD stated that a low-pressure area over the east-central Arabian Sea with the associated cyclonic circulation extending up to 4.5 kilometres above mean sea level persists.

"It is very likely to become a well-marked low-pressure area during the next 24 hours and is likely to concentrate into a depression during the subsequent 24 hours." Another low-pressure area is likely to form over southwest and adjoining the west-central Bay of Bengal off north Tamilnadu, south Andhra Pradesh coast during next 48 hours. The organisation has advised fishermen not to venture into all these areas for the next few days.

Stating that a flood-like situation has already been wreaking havoc in many parts of Karnataka, weather service Skymetweather.com issued a red alert for the most parts of Karnataka between 23 and 25 October. "The state is likely to witness heavy to very heavy rains over many parts of Karnataka, specifically, the coastal and north interior parts during the period," it said.

According to the weather service, many parts of Karnataka witnessed heavy rains during the last 24 hours, resulting in massive chaos causing floods in the northern parts of the state. "Several rivers including Krishna, Ghataprabha and Malaprabha were breaching their banks after outflow from reservoirs in Maharashtra increased resulting in rising water levels after heavy rains," it added.

With inputs from agencies