Photo: Collected
Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Mongla and Payra seaports have been asked to hoist distant cautionary signal no 1. The well-marked low over the southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas has concentrated into a depression, which may move further north-northwest, intensify and turn into a cyclone.
This was stated in a special weather bulletin issued by the Storm Warning Centre of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department this morning.
According to the bulletin, at 6am today the depression was centred about 1,950 km southwest of Chattogram seaport, 1,900 km southwest of Cox’s Bazar seaport, 1,820 km southwest of Mongla seaport and 1,825 km southwest of Payra seaport.
Maximum sustained wind speed within 44 km of the depression’s centre is 40 km per hour, rising to 50 km per hour in gusts or squalls. The sea is rough near the centre.
Fishing boats and trawlers in the north Bay of Bengal have been advised not to venture into the deep sea until further notice.
As weather conditions change, fishermen and operators of seagoing vessels have been urged to follow official weather updates regularly and heed safety advisories.
Background
According to a 2021 Prothom Alo report, on this day in 2007, 15 November, Cyclone Sidr struck the country’s coast with wind speeds of 260 km per hour at landfall.
A joint damage assessment published by GFDRR, the World Bank-linked disaster fund, put the death toll from Sidr at about 3,447.
Sources
Background sources: Prothom Alo, 2021; GFDRR, accessed 15 November 2026
