Cyclone Arnab stalled near the Andhra Pradesh coast, prolonging its landfall process into the morning of October 28.
IMD forecast sustained winds of 115–125km/h, gusting to 140km/h, near the landfall area.
The US Navy's JTWC estimated peak sustained winds of 222km/h, using a different measurement method.
Visakhapatnam recorded 217mm of rainfall, while flash flood warnings were issued for coastal Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring regions.
Storm surges threatened coastal flooding in Yanam and Kakinada.
Cyclone Arnab has become nearly stationary close to the Andhra Pradesh coast between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam, bringing fierce winds, storm surge and rainfall, as its landfall process continues into the morning of October 28, 2026.
According to the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) latest update at 6.30 am on October 28, the very severe cyclonic storm was positioned over the west-central Bay of Bengal, close to the Yanam coast, about 30 kilometres east of Narsapur and 45 km south-southwest of Yanam.
The cyclone’s slow movement could allow it to continue drawing moisture from the sea, increasing the risk of extremely heavy rainfall in coastal areas near the landfall zone.
The IMD said the landfall process could continue into the morning along the Andhra Pradesh coast between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam.
The agency had earlier forecast landfall between 2 am and 4 am on the intervening night of October 27-28 along the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts, much earlier than its subsequent forecast of forenoon on October 28.
Till 11.30 pm on October 27, the IMD forecast sustained winds of 125-135 km/h, gusting to 150 km/h, during landfall. By 6.30 am on October 28, it had revised the expected wind speeds over the landfall area to 115-125 km/h, with gusts reaching 140 km/h.
The IMD reported that cyclone Arnab had reached peak sustained winds of 150-160 km/h on the evening of October 27, with gusts of up to 180 km/h. However, the United States’ Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) estimated the cyclone's peak sustained winds at 120 knots, equivalent to 222 km/h.
The wind speed measurements reported by the JTWC and IMD differ because they use different averaging periods. The JTWC calculates maximum sustained wind speed as the average over one minute, while the IMD uses a three-minute average.
Weather blog Vagaries of Weather, citing JTWC data, reported that Arnab was the strongest post-monsoon cyclone in the Bay of Bengal since 2014 and the strongest in the wider North Indian Ocean region, including the Arabian Sea, since 2019.
The IMD recorded 217 millimetres (mm) of rainfall in Visakhapatnam, 147 mm in Kalingapatnam and 123 mm in Tuni. The agency also warned of flash flood risks across several districts of coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam, Odisha and Chhattisgarh until 11.30 pm on October 28.
Storm surges could cause seawater to inundate coastal areas, with the IMD estimating inland inundation distances of up to 0.48 km in Yanam and 0.24 km in Kakinada.