Severe Cyclonic Storm Maha to bring tropical rain, wind to areas of India impacted by Kyarr
By
Maura Kelly, AccuWeather meteorologist
Published Oct 29, 2019 4:25 PM EDT
While Kyarr is gradually weakening over the western Arabian Sea, the focus will shift to a new tropical feature near southwestern India as Diwali celebrations wind down.
A tropical disturbance just south of India became more organized and was classified as a depression on Wednesday. The depression strengthened to become Cyclonic Storm Maha on Wednesday night, and then a severe cyclonic storm on Thursday.
The above satellite image shows the tropical depression forming in the eastern Arabian Sea on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 30.
"Maha forming means this is the first time there were back-to-back named cyclones in the Arabian Sea since Chapala and Megh in 2015," AccuWeather Lead International Meteorologist Jason Nicholls observed.
"This is only the second time in history that this has occurred," he added.
Further strengthening is expected as Maha moves into a favorable area of warm water and low wind shear. Maha is likely to reach very severe cyclonic storm status in the coming days, with wind speeds of at least 119 km/h (74 mph).
Similar to Kyarr, this storm is not expected to make landfall in western India but follow a path largely parallel to the coast. This will keep most of the strongest winds away from land.
However, depending on how close the storm tracks, periods of heavy rain and gusty winds could reach to western shores of southern India, regardless of how strong Maha gets.
After Maha already brought locally heavy downpours to Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well as Sri Lanka, as early as Tuesday, more waves of heavy rain are possible through Friday.
Much of this area received heavy rain from Kyarr, so any period additional heavy rain from this next system can increase the risk of flooding.
Rough surf and coastal flooding concerns will return to the west India coast through the end of the week.
Maha is forecast to continue tracking just off the coast through the end of the week with some potential for more strengthening.
Into the beginning of the weekend, the system may begin to turn to the west and track across the Arabian Sea, still following in the footsteps of Kyarr.
While AccuWeather meteorologists still caution that there is some uncertainty regarding the future of this system's path, it looks like the tropical disturbance will traverse the Arabian sea into the middle of next week.
Once again the residents of Oman and Yemen should monitor this system as it could bring rain and gusty winds to the area for the middle or end of next week.
Elsewhere in central and southern India, spotty showers and thunderstorms will develop each day as we approach the end of Diwali celebrations.
While it will not rain the entire day, residents should be prepared for a brief downpour on any given day.
Kyarr strengthened into a super cyclonic storm this past weekend as it lashed the western India coast with fierce winds and drenching rain. The storm has since tracked across the Arabian Sea and is starting to weaken.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) downgraded Kyarr to an extremely severe cyclonic storm on Tuesday, but wind speeds around 185 km/h (115 mph) will keep the cyclone equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean.
The storm is forecast to continue to weaken as it starts to turn to the southwest and track along the coast of Oman into the latter half of the week. Outer bands of the storm can bring isolated showers and thunderstorms to coastal areas of eastern Oman late Wednesday and into Thursday.
Despite gradually weakening, the storm can cause rough surf and some coastal flooding along the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula into at least Friday.
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News / Weather News
Severe Cyclonic Storm Maha to bring tropical rain, wind to areas of India impacted by Kyarr
By Maura Kelly, AccuWeather meteorologist
Published Oct 29, 2019 4:25 PM EDT
While Kyarr is gradually weakening over the western Arabian Sea, the focus will shift to a new tropical feature near southwestern India as Diwali celebrations wind down.
A tropical disturbance just south of India became more organized and was classified as a depression on Wednesday. The depression strengthened to become Cyclonic Storm Maha on Wednesday night, and then a severe cyclonic storm on Thursday.
The above satellite image shows the tropical depression forming in the eastern Arabian Sea on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 30.
"Maha forming means this is the first time there were back-to-back named cyclones in the Arabian Sea since Chapala and Megh in 2015," AccuWeather Lead International Meteorologist Jason Nicholls observed.
"This is only the second time in history that this has occurred," he added.
Further strengthening is expected as Maha moves into a favorable area of warm water and low wind shear. Maha is likely to reach very severe cyclonic storm status in the coming days, with wind speeds of at least 119 km/h (74 mph).
Similar to Kyarr, this storm is not expected to make landfall in western India but follow a path largely parallel to the coast. This will keep most of the strongest winds away from land.
However, depending on how close the storm tracks, periods of heavy rain and gusty winds could reach to western shores of southern India, regardless of how strong Maha gets.
After Maha already brought locally heavy downpours to Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well as Sri Lanka, as early as Tuesday, more waves of heavy rain are possible through Friday.
Much of this area received heavy rain from Kyarr, so any period additional heavy rain from this next system can increase the risk of flooding.
Rough surf and coastal flooding concerns will return to the west India coast through the end of the week.
Maha is forecast to continue tracking just off the coast through the end of the week with some potential for more strengthening.
Into the beginning of the weekend, the system may begin to turn to the west and track across the Arabian Sea, still following in the footsteps of Kyarr.
While AccuWeather meteorologists still caution that there is some uncertainty regarding the future of this system's path, it looks like the tropical disturbance will traverse the Arabian sea into the middle of next week.
Once again the residents of Oman and Yemen should monitor this system as it could bring rain and gusty winds to the area for the middle or end of next week.
Elsewhere in central and southern India, spotty showers and thunderstorms will develop each day as we approach the end of Diwali celebrations.
While it will not rain the entire day, residents should be prepared for a brief downpour on any given day.
Related:
Kyarr strengthened into a super cyclonic storm this past weekend as it lashed the western India coast with fierce winds and drenching rain. The storm has since tracked across the Arabian Sea and is starting to weaken.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) downgraded Kyarr to an extremely severe cyclonic storm on Tuesday, but wind speeds around 185 km/h (115 mph) will keep the cyclone equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean.
The storm is forecast to continue to weaken as it starts to turn to the southwest and track along the coast of Oman into the latter half of the week. Outer bands of the storm can bring isolated showers and thunderstorms to coastal areas of eastern Oman late Wednesday and into Thursday.
Despite gradually weakening, the storm can cause rough surf and some coastal flooding along the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula into at least Friday.
Report a Typo