Cyclone Biparjoy Veers Towards Indian Coast, to Make Landfall Between Gujarat, Pakistan on June 15: IMD

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday warned that super-cyclonic storm Pebarjoy, which has now swept across the far north of the Arabian Sea, could make landfall between Mandvi in ​​Gujarat and Pakistan’s Karachi.

The cyclone that formed in the eastern central Arabian Sea on Wednesday night is currently raging as a very dangerous cyclonic storm, with winds of up to 190 kilometers per hour in the seas.

“However, its intensity is likely to decrease slightly by the time it makes landfall on Thursday. We expect landfall between Mandvi (Gujarat) and the neighboring Karachi (Pakistan) coast on Thursday afternoon. Monica Sharma, chief scientist at IMD, told News18 We have issued warnings of heavy rain, storm surge and strong winds of 125-135 kmph in coastal areas.

Updating its forecast, the weather department has now issued a yellow alert for Gujarat and Kutch, with heavy rains forecast for the districts of Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Junagarh and Morbi, including the Bay of Kutch. The department warned that storm surges about 2 meters above the astronomical tide are likely to flood low-lying areas in land areas.

As of Sunday morning, the cyclone was located about 580 kilometers west-southwest of Mumbai, 480 kilometers south-southwest of Porbandar, 530 kilometers south-southwest of Dwarka Devbhumi, and 610 kilometers south-southwest. Nalia and 780 kilometers south of Karachi (Pakistan). ).

According to IMD, it will very likely move north until the morning of June 14, then move north-northeast and cross Saurashtra, Kutch, and the adjacent Pakistani coasts between Mandvi (Gujarat) and Karachi (Pakistan) around noon on June 15. Severe cyclonic storm with maximum sustained winds of 125-135 km/h with gusts to 150 km/h.

Heavy rains and stormy surgeries

Rain intensity will increase with heavy to very heavy rain in a few places and very heavy rain in isolated places very likely over Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka and Jamnagar and heavy to very heavy rain in a few places over Porbandar, Rajkot, Murbi and Junagarh districts of Gujarat on June 15.

Sea conditions are likely to be rough to very rough through the evening of June 14th and high to rough thereafter until noon on June 15th and then improving. Storms about 2 meters above the tides are likely to flood low-lying areas in the above counties during the time of landfall.

Strong winds and rains could lead to complete destruction of thatched houses/severe damage to kucha houses, according to the International Institute for Democracy (IMD). There may be some damage to Pucca’s homes as well. Minor disruptions to railways, electric power lines and signaling systems are also expected apart from widespread damage to standing crops, farms and orchards, falling green coconuts and tearing of palm fronds.

The administration advised the complete suspension of fishing operations in the eastern central and adjacent western central Arabian Sea until June 15.

Rapid intensification

Hurricanes that occurred in the month of June in the Arabian Sea are not unusual. But warm sea surface temperatures have been fueling intense storms in the Indian Ocean, with cyclones intensifying at a faster pace than ever before.

In the case of Biparjoy, an area of ​​low pressure formed over the southeastern Arabian Sea on the evening of June 5 and intensified into a depression within 12 hours. By 11:30 a.m. on June 6, it had intensified into a deep depression over the southeast and bordering the eastern central Arabian Sea. By 5:30 PM on June 7, it had turned into a cyclonic storm. Over the next 12 hours, the cyclonic storm became “extremely intense” over the same area. On Saturday, the intensity increased to a very dangerous cyclonic storm.