Cyclone Sagar to make landfall in Somalia; Ethiopia, Djibouti to be affected

May 19, 2018 11:45 AM | Skymet Weather Team

Updated on May 19, 2018, 11:45 M (IST):  Cyclone Sagar to make landfall in Somalia, moderate to heavy rainfall  likely

At present, the cyclonic storm Sagar is located 80 km north-northeast of Berbera and 210 km south-southeast of Aden in Yemen. Sagar has tracked west-southwestwards and is likely to move in the same direction at a speed of 6 knots.

The intensity of this system would be same during the next couple of hours. Thereafter, it would weaken rapidly close to Somalia coast. Sagar is expected to make a landfall by today evening over Somalia coast. Thus, the Somalia coast would witness moderate to heavy rainfall and winds would blow at a speed of 60 to 70 kmph.

Updated on May 18, 2018, 04:30 PM (IST): Cyclone Sagar to make landfall in Somalia; Ethiopia, Djibouti to be affected

Cyclone Sagar is in the Gulf of Aden and is now centered near latitude 12°N and Longitude 46.4°E. It is currently situated 170 km east-southeast of Aden (Yemen) and about 790 km south-southwest of the Socotra Islands.

The cyclone has moved west southwestward at a speed of 18 kmph along with sustained winds of 80 kmph gusting up to 100 kmph. Sagar is expected to remain a cyclone until tomorrow afternoon wherein the winds may increase even further.

The sea surface temperature is at 31 degrees Celsius in the Gulf of Aden which is quite conducive for the sustenance of the weather system. Winds may be around 100-130 kmph.

The system is expected to make landfall along the coastline of Somalia sometime tomorrow during the afternoon and will maintain the strength of a cyclone during that time. Thereafter, the system may reduce in strength.

Thus, torrential rainfall is expected over the areas of Somalia, Djibouti, as well as Ethiopia. These nations are expected to see high velocity winds as well as flooding rains as and when the storm makes landfall over the region.

Updated on May 17, 2018 2:15 PM (IST): Cyclone Sagar forms in Arabian Sea, first of the season

As predicted, the deep depression in Arabian Sea has intensified into a cyclone ‘Sagar’. It is the first cyclonic storm of the season to develop in the Indian waters.

At present, Sagar is seen over Gulf of Aden near latitude 13.2°N and longitude 48.7°E, around 400 km east­northeast of Aden in Yemen and 560 km west­northwest of Socotra Islands.

With system moving in open waters, it may gain more strength and sustain the strength of a tropical storm for at least next 12 hours. Thereafter, as mentioned earlier, the system would gradually start weakening on account of close proximity to the coast.

The cyclonic system is most likely to continue tracking westwards during the next 12 hours and then west-southwestwards in the subsequent 24 hours. Sea conditions would remain rough to very rough.

However, Skymet Weather would like to make it clear that the cyclone has got no bearing off and along the Indian West Coast.

Updated on May 17, 2018 11:15 AM (IST): First cyclone of the season likely in Arabian Sea

The low pressure area that has been tracking in Arabian Sea for days now has finally started gaining strength. After intensifying into a depression, the system rapidly intensified into a deep depression during the wee hours of Thursday.

The deep depression is presently located at longitude 13°N and 48.9°E, around 490 km east-northeast of Yemen coast. The wind speed is to the tune of 80 kmph gusting up to 90 kmph.

Not only this, the system seems to gain more strength and turn into a cyclonic storm very soon. In fact, cloud configuration and atmospheric conditions are indicating that system might have already strengthened into cyclone, predict meteorologists at Skymet Weather.

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If this happens, it would be the first cyclone of the season. So far, no storm has formed in any of Indian seas.

The system is heading towards Gulf of Aden, which is a narrow stretch of water body, bounded by large land mass. Thus, as the system nears Gulf of Aden, it would start weakening. According to weathermen, the stint of the system as a cyclone would be for very short duration as it is likely to weaken within the span of 24 hours of forming.

Although, the system has formed in Indian sea, but it is far away from the Indian coast to impact the weather over the country. However, it is surely going to impact weather over Yemen, Somalia and Saudi Arabia in terms of heavy rains and thundershowers along with sand storm and high velocity winds.

Any information taken from here should be credited to skymetweather.com

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