Unseasonal rain to continue over coasts
NEW DELHI: Several coastal states will experience a wet Diwali this year, with two low pressure systems bringing in unseasonal rainfall, meteorological department officials said.
Most places in Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts of Maharashtra, Goa, Uttar Kannada and Udupi districts of Karnataka, and south Gujarat will receive rainfall because of the Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Kyarr, which had wind speeds of up to 180 km on Saturday.
By Saturday evening the storm lay 380 km southwest of Mumbai, moving westwards towards Oman coast. The system will intensify further into an Extremely Severe Cyclonic
Storm by Sunday night, with winds gusting at speeds of up to 200 kmph, officials said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned fishermen not to venture into parts of the Arabian Sea till the end of the month.
Another low pressure system is likely to form over the Arabian Sea on October 30, according to IMD. Kyarr will be the third cyclone and the fourth low pressure area to develop over the Arabian Sea this year. This is unusual because more number of cyclones develop over the Bay of Bengal.
“It is not common to see several cyclones over the Arabian Sea; more cyclones develop over the Bay of Bengal usually. But this year the Arabian Sea is very active and that led to the delay in monsoon withdrawal as well,” said Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director-general, IMD.
This is because of an Indian Ocean Dipole that leads to the warming of the eastern Indian Ocean and thereby the Arabian Sea, making it conducive for cyclones. On the eastern coast, a cyclonic circulation over Assam will bring heavy rains to parts of Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura and also to the peninsular India, including states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala, met officials said.