Winds of 115kmh to 125kmh and gusts of up to 140kmh are forecast, with a storm surge of 1m to 1.5m above normal tide likely to inundate low-lying areas of Andhra Pradesh, it said in a bulletin issued at 6.30am local time (9am, Singapore time).
Operations at three Andhra Pradesh airports were suspended, India’s civil aviation ministry said.
In neighbouring Nepal, authorities on Tuesday warned tourists against venturing into high-altitude areas due to fears that Arnab could trigger torrential downpours, snowstorms and avalanches in the Himalayan region from Thursday night through Saturday.
Arnab formed over the Bay of Bengal, a major region for tropical cyclones that has spawned deadly storms on India’s east coast.
A super cyclone that killed nearly 10,000 people when it hit Odisha in October 1999 remains one of the country’s deadliest natural disasters.
