Oman weather: Rare back-to-back cyclones formed in the Arabian Sea

Energy Saturday 02/November/2019 21:15 PM
By: Times News Service
Oman weather: Rare back-to-back cyclones formed in the Arabian Sea

Muscat: The Arabian Sea last week witnessed the rare phenomenon of two storms forming in its waters one after the other, after Tropical Storm Maha took shape just days after the formation of Cyclone Kyarr.
Cyclone Kyarr crossed Socotra Island yesterday and is likely to affect parts of Yemen. Tropical Storm Maha is moving in a North/North Westerly direction off the coast of India, bringing heavy rain and wind to South India and Sri Lanka, before veering back to the centre of the Arabian Sea, although it is still more than 1,000 km away from Oman.
Commenting on this, Abdullah Al Khadouri, a senior meteorologist at the Directorate General of Meteorology at Oman’s Public Authority of Civil Aviation said, “It’s very rare for two cyclones to form at the same time in the Arabian Sea. I believe this is because of the climate change and the rising temperatures of the oceans. It’s difficult to predict that the two cyclones will meet together but this is could happen.”
Al Khadouri was speaking in the context of cyclones Kyarr and Maha that had developed one after the other in the Arabian Sea. While Kyarr is expected to move towards Yemen and Somalia while remaining off the coast of Oman without causing any direct damage, Maha was also forming in the Arabian Sea during the final days of October, with PACA having classified it as a tropical storm on 31 October, and announcing on 1 November that it was over 1,000 km away from Oman.
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Maha is the fourth tropical depression to have formed in the Arabian Sea in 2019, the others being Kyarr, Hikaa and Vayu. Al Khadouri said on 2 November, “Kyarr is currently crossing Socotra Island as a tropical low pressure phenomenon with some chances of rain remaining over the Dhofar Governorate today. Maha is still classified as a storm moving north and north-west into the central Arabian Sea as meteorological reports and follow-ups continue.
“There is currently the direct passage of Kyarr over the island of Socotra, with varying degrees of heavy rainfall,” he added. “There is likely to be rain today and tomorrow.”
As oceans get warmer, the impact of cyclones gets worse due to stronger wind speeds, which could cause more damage if they make landfall.
“Warmer sea surface temperatures could intensify tropical storm wind speeds, potentially delivering more damage if they make landfall. Based on sophisticated computer modelling, scientists expect a two to 11 per cent increase in average maximum
wind speed, with more occurrences of the most intense storms,” said the Centre for Climate Change and Energy Solutions.
“Warmer seas also mean more precipitation. Rainfall rates during these storms are projected to increase by about 20 per cent and this can sometimes have more destructive impact.”
“The oceans have taken in nearly all of the excess energy created by global warming, absorbing 93 per cent of the increase in the planet’s energy inventory from 1971-2010,” added the Union of Concerned Scientists.
In some ocean basins, the intensification of hurricanes over time has been linked to rising ocean temperatures.”
The Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory of the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration added, “Tropical cyclone rainfall rates will likely increase in the future due to anthropogenic warming and accompanying increase in atmospheric moisture content.
“Modelling studies on average project an increase on the order of 10 to 15 percent for rainfall rates averaged within about 100 km of the storm for a two-degree Celsius global warming scenario.”
Although Kyarr did not directly impact Oman, its impact was definitely felt in the Sultanate, as eight-foot high waves struck the Muttrah Corniche in Muscat, causing cracks to appear on the pavements, and prompting the authorities to issue a warning asking people to say away from the seashore. Some roads in the Batinah Governorate were also badly damaged, while in Sharqiyah, some homes near Ras Al Hadd were flooded, leading to local authorities to find alternate accommodation for those who had been affected by Kyarr.
Some 170 families in the Batinah Governorate alone were evacuated from low-lying areas, as emergency services were placed on standby to offer assistance to those who had lost their homes and property, or had become stranded due to the effects of Kyarr. With the cyclone off the coast of Oman, several low-lying areas were also flooded as sea levels rose, leading to local municipalities deploying cleanup crews.
“Sohar has become the more beautiful and sweeter with the cooperation and solidarity of all citizens in cleaning up after tropical cyclone Kyarr,” said a statement from Sohar Municipality, and the Ministry of Transport added, “The Roads Department of South Sharqiyah carried out the urgent maintenance of roads affected by climatic conditions over the coastal areas, in cooperation with the Directorate General of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources of the governorate.
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“As a result of this cooperation, the accumulated sand in the area of Ras Al Ruwais Ali has been removed,” said the ministry. “The Ashkarah-Shannah road and the road leading to the coastal areas of Al Juwairah has also been cleared of sand. The Department of Roads in North Sharqiyah carried out similar work on the Sinaw-Muhut-Duqm road.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the US Department of Commerce had said, “Kyarr is the first super cyclone that has formed over the Arabian Sea since Super Cyclonic Storm Gonu in 2007,” and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) had previously said: “Cyclone Kyarr is breaking records as the strongest cyclone in the Arabian Sea in 12 years.”
The seas of Oman off the Dhofar Governorate, however, are still rough, with Kyarr continuing to move in a south south-west direction, with the Directorate General of Meteorology saying, “The continued indirect effects of the tropical phenomenon on the Dhofar governorate within the next 24 hours will see cloud flows over the Dhofar governorate with chances of rain, moderate to active northeasterly winds that cause dust and sand to rise.
The rough seas on the coast of Dhofar Governorate will see waves rising to heights of between 2.5 and 3.5 metres.”