NB Explains | Cyclone Biparjoy: Everything you need to know about the storm

Ahmedabad, Jun 13: Cyclone Biparjoy is all set to make landfall over Gujarat later this week. Despite having started off as a Low Pressure Area last week and grown into a mighty Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm in almost no time, Biparjoy has been one of the longest-lasting cyclones to impact India in recent decades.

 

 

 

 

The longer a cyclonic storm remains over the sea, the more energy and moisture it is likely to accumulate, which in turn also increases the chances of the storm becoming more severe and causing destruction after landfall. As per weather models, Biparjoy’s slow movement has been down to steering winds and anticyclonic circulations on either side of the system. Its sluggishness also made it difficult to predict where it would make landfall, India Meteorological Department (IMD) chief Mrutyunjay Mohapatra shared with the media.

 

 

According to reports, at 11:30 PM on Monday (Jun 12) night, the Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Biparjoy weakened into a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm over the northeast and adjoining east-central Arabian Sea. It moved north-northwestwards overnight, and as of 5:30 AM on Tuesday (Jun 13) morning, it lay centred at about 300 km west-southwest of Gujarat’s Porbandar, 340 km south-southwest of Jakhau Port, and 480 km south of Karachi, Pakistan.

 

According to IMD, Biparjoy will likely remain on this trajectory and continue its near-northward journey until Wednesday (June 14) morning. Then, it will move north-northeastwards and cross Saurashtra-Kutch and adjoining Pakistan coasts, with the precise landfall location lying between Mandvi in Gujarat and Karachi in Pakistan, near Gujarat’s Jakhau Port.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cyclone Biparjoy is expected to make landfall by Thursday noon (Jun 15). It is likely to cross the coast as a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm, with a maximum sustained wind speed of 125-135 kmph, gusting to 150 kmph. While most interior districts will escape Biparjoy's wrath with some light to moderate rains, the coastal districts will witness much more intense precipitation activity.

 

Heavy to very heavy rains (115.5 mm - 224.5 mm) have been forecast over Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Junagarh and Morbi districts of Saurashtra and Kutch on Wednesday (June 14) — a day before landfall. But on the day of the landfall, the intensity can go up to extremely heavy falls (224.5 mm) in isolated parts of Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka and Jamnagar, and heavy to very heavy rainfall (115.5 mm-224.5 mm) at a few places over Porbandar, Rajkot, Morbi and Junagarh districts on Thursday (June 15). Isolated heavy rains (64.5 mm-115.5 mm) are very likely over the remaining districts of Saurashtra and the north Gujarat region on the landfall day as well.

 

 

Sea conditions along and off the Saurashtra and Kutch coasts are likely to be rough to very rough till Wednesday morning, followed by high to phenomenal until Thursday (Jun 15) noon.

 

A storm surge of about 2-3 metres above the astronomical tide is likely to inundate the low-lying areas in the Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbandar, Jamnagar and Morbi districts on during the landfall on Thursday (Jun 15).

 

Further, fisherfolk have been strongly advised against venturing into the sea due to the aforementioned unstable conditions and strong gale winds in the area.

 

 

Government bodies have made plans to keep the residents safe from the impending cyclone. Adequate numbers of teams and assets of the National Disaster Response Force, Indian Army, navy, air force and the Coast Guard are being deployed to assist the Gujarat government in their preparedness, rescue and restoration efforts.

 

Officials in the coastal districts of Kutch, Porbandar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Jamnagar, Junagadh and Morbi have initiated the process of shifting people residing within 10 km distance from the shore to safer locations.

 

Roughly 7,500 people residing in low-lying areas near the Gujarat coast have already been shifted to safer places, with arrangements for accommodation, food and medicines already made for the evacuated. Over 12,000 people are also being evacuated from just Kutch and Dwarka — the districts likely to face the brunt of the storm.

 

 

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