Potential cyclone will have ‘no effect’ on Oman for next 3 days

Times News Service

MUSCAT:

A potential cyclone forming 1,000km off the coast of Oman will have “no direct effect” on the Sultanate for the next three days, government weather watchers have said.

According to authorities, the storm had centred in the southwest of the Arabian Sea—latitude 9°N and longitude 60°E—and was 1,000km from Salalah.

“Satellites images showed the development of a tropical low pressure area with a surface wind speed of 17 to 25 knots located southwest in the Arabian Sea,” PACA said.

Predictions based on numerical weather charts suggested that the storm would move towards the west and northwest of the Wusta and Dhofar coasts, PACA explained Specialists were following the development of the storm, PACA said and advised “the public to closely monitor weather bulletins”.

If it develops into a cyclone, it will be called Mekunu—a name given by The Maldives—one of the eight countries on a World Meteorological Panel that chose the names for cyclones over the North Indian Ocean. Oman is also on the panel.

The North Indian Ocean region tropical cyclones are being named since October 2004.

Six lists are used in rotation and storms are identified using names from an alphabetically arranged list.