Indian authorities are bracing for a severe cyclone strengthening in the Arabian Sea that's set to make landfall in the western state of Gujarat as India's second major storm of the season.

The India Meteorological Department said Wednesday that Cyclone Vayu was due to hit the Gujarat coast early Thursday with winds gusting up to 170 kilometers (106 miles) per hour.

Gujarat's chief minister, Vijay Rupani, requested on social media that tourists leave coastal areas by Wednesday afternoon. Authorities said more than a quarter of a million people living in low-lying areas would be evacuated.

By contrast more than a million people were evacuated ahead of Cyclone Fani, which hit India's eastern coast on the Bay of Bengal in May, killing 34 people.