The Department of Meteorology has forecast showers or thundershowers at times across four provinces today, with falls above 100 millimetres possible at some locations and seas in the Bay of Bengal expected to turn very rough.
Rain is expected at times in the Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central and North Western provinces and in the Galle and Matara districts, Hiru News reported. Heavy falls of more than 100 mm may occur at some places within that area.
Wind
Strong winds of 40 to 50 km/h are possible over:
- the western slopes of the central hills
- the North Central and North Western provinces
- the Trincomalee and Hambantota districts
At sea
Over the Bay of Bengal sea area, the department warned of thundershowers with wind speeds increasing to 70 km/h, which can make those waters very rough.
Fishermen have been advised to refrain from fishing in the affected sea areas until further notice. Those already at sea in those areas have been told to move out of them.
The wider system
The advisory continues a spell of unsettled weather driven by a low-pressure system over the Bay of Bengal. On Monday the Met Department closed a large block of sea to fishing and navigation as that system deepened on a track towards the Indian coast.
Rainfall of more than 100 mm in 24 hours is the threshold at which the Disaster Management Centre and the National Building Research Organisation typically begin issuing landslide and flood warnings for the affected divisions, and several districts in the south-west have already been under such alerts this month.
Caveats
Hiru News is the only verified newsroom whose report of this bulletin could be retrieved; Ada Derana also carried it, but its site remains unreachable to us. The Hiru report does not state the current classification of the Bay of Bengal system, give a validity window for the advisory, or name the specific divisions at risk, and we have not independently confirmed those details.
