Maha intensifies further, will spare Oman
Tropical storm Maha intensified into a very severe Tropical Cyclone over the east central Arabian Sea on Sunday.
The cyclone will spare Oman as it is expected to move towards the country till Monday but re-curve on Tuesday and move east-northeastwards towards the western Indian state of Gujarat and weaken gradually.
Due to the weather condition, rainy clouds might reach South Sharqiyah and Al Wusta coastal areas by Tuesday, according to the Public Authority for Civil Aviation’s (PACA) National Multi Hazard Early Warning Center (NMHEWC).
‘Sea conditions will be rough with maximum wave height ranging between three and four metres along the coastal areas of South Sharqiyah, Al Wusta and Dhofar while it will be moderate to rough along the coastal areas of the Sea of Oman with maximum wave height ranging between 1.5m and 2.5m. There are chances of sea water inundation over the low-lying coastal areas at the time of high tides.’
NMHEWC analysis indicated that Maha was located at longitude 65.8°E and latitude 17.7°N on Sunday with wind speed of 65 knots around the centre. ‘The eye of Maha is about 850km away from the nearest point of the sultanate coast (Ras Madrakah). Its direction is expected to change northeastward towards the Indian coast in the next 48 hours. As a result, no direct impact is expected over the sultanate during the next four days,’ it stated. Continued on
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the cyclone was about 590km west-southwest of Veraval (Gujarat), 630km west-southwest of Diu and 590km southwest of Porbandar.
‘It is very likely to move westnorthwestwards slowly till November 4, re-curve east-northeastwards and move rapidly thereafter and weak en gradually from November 5 onwards. It is very likely to cross Gujarat coast between Diu and Dwarka as a severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 100110kmph gusting to 120kmph around midnight of November 6/early hours of November 7.’
Under the influence of cyclone Maha and its likely interaction with westerly trough, heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places is very likely over the Gujarat region and Saurashtra coasts on November 6 and 7 and isolated heavy showers likely over Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and west Madhya Pradesh on November 7, IMD stated.
NMHEWC said that it continues to monitor all updates of the tropical weather condition and PACA advised the public to follow its latest weather reports.