The last quarter of the year 2015 will be remembered for two extremely fast developing storms; Hurricane Patricia and now Cyclone Chapala. In no time, these two storms intensified rapidly stumping meteorologists across the globe. While Patricia dissipated rather quickly towards the end, Cyclone Chapala continues as a Category 4 storm on Saturday.
Now Hurricane Patricia was the most intense hurricane on record in the western hemisphere, and Chapala is likely to become the strongest storm in the Arabian Sea. Cyclone Chapala recorded 80 knots of intensification in the last 24 hours, which is pretty impressive for a storm running wild in the Arabian Sea.
Chapala is now headed westward and is expected to make landfall along the coast of Yemen. If Chapala too weakens rapidly like Patricia, it will then make landfall as a much weaker cyclone. But even as a Category 1 cyclone, Chapala will make for an unusual sight on the Yemen coast.
As per NOAA’s historical hurricane database, despite witnessing a few cyclones annually, the Arabian Sea has never produced a tropical storm which made landfall in Yemen at hurricane strength.
The amount of rainfall Chapala is likely to give over Yemen (and neighboring Oman) is staggering. A narrow stretch bordering Oman, in East Yemen, could see 500mm of rain in just a few days. As per rainfall records available for the region, 500mm would be five years’ worth of rainfall.
Now because this rain will fall on dry and hard surface, it translates into massive flash floods for the region. A few areas in this zone are desert-like, and will be over-run with rushing water, thereby causing potential damage to life and property. Weather experts believe that these rains will be a ‘once in a lifetime’ affair for some people in the region.
(Featured Image Credit: powerfulstorms.com)
