Cyclonic Storm Luban to threaten Yemen, Oman this week

Cyclonic Storm Luban, the third cyclonic storm of the year in the Arabian Sea, will bring life-threatening conditions to parts of the Arabian Peninsula later this week.

A northwesterly movement in the coming days will put areas from southern and eastern Yemen through southwest Oman at greatest risk for damaging winds, flooding rainfall and mudslides.

These impacts could be felt as early as Thursday, though the worst conditions may hold off until Friday or Saturday.

Though some uncertainty remains in regards to the track of Luban, one scenario appears to be the most likely outcome at this time.

AccuWeather meteorologists feel the most likely track of Luban will be northwest toward the border of Oman and Yemen through the middle of the week before the storm turns westward and approaches the coast of Yemen late in the week into this weekend.

In this scenario, Oman would be spared the worst of Luban's impacts; however, the southern coastline could still endure heavy rainfall from Thursday into Friday.

This would bring the risk for life-threatening flooding and mudslides from Sadah to Salalah and Dhalkut. Conditions would improve over the weekend as Luban tracks westward toward Yemen.

While Oman would be spared a direct hit, the entire southern coastline from Yemen should remain on high alert for a potential landfall.

Prior to reaching Yemen, Luban will pass near or north of Socotra, bringing strong winds and heavy rainfall to the island.

The slow movement of Luban could result in downpours affecting the island from Thursday into Saturday and bring a risk for flooding, mudslides and locally damaging winds.

Impacts across Yemen are not expected until at least Friday; however, the entire southern coastline could be lashed by the storm as it tracks westward through the weekend.

Torrential downpours and strong winds can produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides along with the risk for power outages and property damage.

A second scenario would take Luban on a continued northwest track into southern Oman with the storm dissipating inland over Oman and surrounding areas.

Impacts would begin in Oman on Thursday and continue across the region into Sunday.

This track would bring widespread flooding and mudslides to much of central and southern Oman as well as far eastern Yemen with the potential for flooding to spread into southeast Saudi Arabia.

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