Extremely severe cyclone Biparjoy let out some steam and weakened a notch as a very severe cyclone on Tuesday. India Meteorological Department (IMD) indicated it may not buckle anymore till it touches coast near Jakhau Port over North-West Gujarat by Thursday evening, according to a revised timeline.
Landfall delayed a tad
The IMD delayed the landfall till evening from originally projected noon hours on Thursday. On Tuesday, the storm moved entirely into North-East Arabian Sea in the immediate neighbourhood. It may move north till midnight on Tuesday and shift track to cross the Saurashtra and Kutch and adjoining Pakistan coasts between Mandvi (Gujarat) and Karachi (Pakistan) near Jakhau Port (Gujarat) the day after as a very severe cyclonic storm with maximum sustained wind speeds of 125-135 km/hr gusting to 150 km/hr.
Also read: Cyclone Biparjoy: Over 20,000 shifted to safer places in Gujarat
Heavy rain over Gujarat
Biparjoysent out outer rain bands from Monday evening itself, triggering extremely heavy rain over Saurashtra and Kutch. The heaviest (in cm) was recorded at Sutrapada-21; followed by Veraval in the same district and Keshod (Junagadh)-20 each; Mendarda-19; Malia-18; Mangro-14 (all Junagadh);, Talala (Gir Somnath)-13, Vanthali-12; Manavadar-11; and Junagarh AWS-10 (Junagadh).
Monsoon stays sluggish
Meanwhile, the northern limit was unchanged across Ratnagiri, Koppal, Puttaparthi, Shriharikota, Malda and Forbesganj. Monsoon flows from the Arabian Sea arm are headed towards the very severe cyclone with a separate but weak component directed towards the Goa, Karnataka and Kerala coasts. The Bay of Bengal arm appeared to be busy, but in the absence of a sea-based system (low-pressure area) to anchor them, it has failed to make an impression except over North-East India.
Also read: Port operations suspended on Saurashtra-Kutch coast ahead of ‘Biparjoy’ landfall
Limited gains seen
The IMD saw limited gains on the rain front for the land for next five days. This includes North-West India where the monsoon normally reaches by June-end. Biparjoy will trigger light/moderate to isolated to scattered rainfall, hailstorms, thunderstorms and lightning over Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand on Wednesday and Thursday. Heavy to very heavy rain with extremely heavy falls are forecast for South-West Rajasthan on Friday and Saturday and over South-East Rajasthan on Saturday.
Over South India, light to moderate to scattered to fairly widespread rain, thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds are likely during the next five days. Heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places over Kerala for next two days. East and North-East India will likely see heavy to very rainfall at many parts during this period.