The Department of Meteorology has issued an “Amber” level advisory for strong winds affecting the Northern, North-Central, North-Western, Sabaragamuwa and Central provinces, along with the Monaragala, Hambantota and Trincomalee districts.
The advisory was issued on Friday (31) and remains in effect until 11.00 a.m. on Saturday (1), a 24-hour window beginning at 11 a.m. on Friday, the Daily Mirror reported.
Winds of about 40-50 kmph can be expected at times across the listed areas, the department said, attributing the conditions to the active south-west monsoon. The public has been advised to remain vigilant and to follow further advisories.
An Amber advisory is the Met Department’s middle warning level, indicating conditions capable of disrupting daily activity and posing a risk to vulnerable structures. Gusts in that range can bring down tree branches and loose roofing sheets, and residents are generally advised to secure temporary structures and take care near hoardings, trees and weakened buildings.
Follows a lapsed Red advisory
The new advisory takes effect hours after a Red-level advisory for strong winds and rough seas expired at 9.00 a.m. on Friday. That advisory, the highest marine level, covered the sea areas from Kankesanthurai to Kalpitiya via Mannar and from Hambantota to Pottuvil, where gusts of 60-70 kmph were expected, and prompted the Fisheries Department to suspend fishing in the affected waters.
Friday’s Amber advisory applies to land areas rather than coastal waters, and sets a lower wind threshold. It covers broadly the same inland stretch as an Amber advisory issued on July 17, with Sabaragamuwa Province added.
The winds coincide with heavy showers forecast above 100 mm in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-Western provinces and in the Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Galle and Matara districts. A few showers are expected in the Anuradhapura and Hambantota districts, with mainly dry weather elsewhere.
