cyclone phet
Tropical Cyclone Phet threatens the Indian and Pakistani coastlines
Tropical cyclone 03A has intensified quickly in the last 24 hours, and as a result, the storm has been renamed Tropical Storm Phet. Phet is located in the Arabian Sea, Northern Indian Ocean, and is threatening the Indian and Pakistani coastlines, NASA satellite imagery has claimed.
NASA’s Aqua satellite flew over Tropical Storm Phet on June 1 at 9:11 UTC (5:11 EDT) and captured an infrared image of the cloud top temperatures. The image indicated large areas of high, cold cloud tops, as cold as -63 degrees Fahrenheit, indicating strong convection.
At 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT) on June 1, Tropical Storm Phet had maximum sustained winds near 55 knots (62 mph) with higher gusts. Phet was located about 550 miles south-southwest of Karachi, Pakistan, near 16.8 North and 62.2 East. Phet is moving to the northwest near 6 knots (7 mph).
Current landmasses threatened by Phet include: India (Gujarat), Pakistan (Sindh and Balochistan).
Phet is forecast to continue strengthening and turn northeast later this week. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasts landfall by the end of the week in the border area between India and Pakistan.
Weather prediction models suggested that the cyclone would intensify and move slowly in a north-northwesterly/northerly direction and then recurve northeastwards towards Gujarat and adjoining Pakistan coast, it said.
Coastal Gujarat is expected to be battered by squally winds with speed reaching 55-65 kmph gusting 75 kmph from tomorrow which could increase gradually, the weather office said.
According to cyclone tracking models, some parts of coastal Gujarat may experience very strong winds packing speed of up to 125 kmph.
NASA’s Aqua satellite flew over Tropical Storm Phet on June 1 at 9:11 UTC and captured an infrared image of the cloud. The image indicated large areas of high, cold cloud tops, as cold as -63 degrees Fahrenheit, indicating strong convection.
Tropical Storm Phet, has sustained winds near 62 mph with higher gusts. Phet was located about 550 miles south-southwest of Karachi, Pakistan, near 16.8 North and 62.2 East.
Current landmasses threatened by Phet include: India and Pakistan. Regional warnings are already in effect for the Indian and Pakistani coastlines from Thursday. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasts landfall by the end of the week in the border area between India and Pakistan. The Indian Meteorological Department, Gujarat, has alerted pepole in the Kutch and Saurashtra coastal areas near Arabian Sea.
Chief Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the preparations in an emergency meeting held on Tuesday evening with senior government officials in the wake of cyclone warning.
The London-based Tropical Storm Risk Group said that Karachi and Shahbandar in Pakistan; and Jakhar, Mandvi, Sonmiani, Morbi and Jamnagar in Gujarat could be subjected to the fury of the storm of category-2 strength on the Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity.
The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) shows ‘Phet’ settling into a perch over north Gujarat and adjoining south-west Rajasthan, 24 hours into landfall on Friday/Saturday but without losing much intensity.
