Ferocious super typhoon (super cyclone) 'Goni' slammed into the eastern parts of the Philippines, a sitting duck for powerful Pacific typhoons, early on Sunday with agency reports saying that the federal government authorities had evacuated almost a million people from its projected path.

Super typhoon Goni hit the island province of Catanduanes at dawn with sustained winds of 225 km/hr and gusts of 280 km/hr, equivalent to a Category-5 hurricane, the strongest to be reported from any part of the world this year. It was forecast to blast its way through densely populated regions in the Philippines.

 

May strengthen in the South China Sea

Goni had weakened slightly on impacting the central parts of the island nation to the South of Lipa city and is forecast to soon emerge into the South China Sea, strengthen once again taking advantage of the warm waters, and likely move along a westward course potentially threatening Vietnam with an eventful landfall.

Goni evoked memories of Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013 that left more than 7,300 people dead and missing, entire flattened villages, swept ships inland, and displaced more than five million in Central Philippines. India is more familiar with a similar-sounding but away-going super cyclone 'Gonu' in the Arabian Sea in 2007.

Successor typhoon likely

Meanwhile, yet another potential typhoon (with name Atsani) is brewing to the East of the Philippines on Sunday, which is expected to follow close on super typhoon Goni's heels, grazing the northern fringes of the Philippines and heading towards initially to the Hainan province of China and later to Laos.

Weather watchers are monitoring these typhoons closely for any likely implications for the North-East monsoon for India's South Peninsula. Very often, westward-moving storms/typhoons across the West Pacific/South China Sea are known to send in 'pulses' (remnant circulations) in the Bay of Bengal where they can intensify.

Rain deficit in South Peninsula

Meanwhile, back home, India Meteorological Department (IMD) expects the North-East monsoon to revive from November 5 (Saturday), presumably from the push from the South China Sea which would have seen two major typhoons astride its waters in quick succession bound for Indochina and onward into the Bay of Bengal.

Rainfall surplus for the month of October has been cut to three per cent due mainly to raised rain deficits in the South Peninsula attributed to the delay in the arrival of the North-East monsoon as also its indifferent performance through its first four days (the last of the month) during the just-concluded month. 

The IMD pointed to a low-pressure area lay over the North-East and adjoining East-Central Bay of Bengal. It is likely to move towards Bangladesh coast during Sunday and Monday. A ‘runway-like’ trough continues to connect the low-pressure area with the Bangladesh coast, likely helping precipitate the landfall.

Night mercury in single digits 

Over North India, night temperatures fell to single digits at Una in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday, the lowest this season yet. They fell by -1.6--3.0 deg Celsius over Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, East Rajasthan, Saurashtra, Kutch, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Vidarbha and Coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile, private forecaster Skymet Weather said that October 2020 had been the coldest in over 50 years for Delhi, with an average monthly minimum (night) temperature of 17.2 deg Celsius against the normal of 19.1 deg Celsius, making for a big drop of 2 deg Celsius.

50-year low for Delhi

On Thursday last (October 29), the base observatory Safdarjung had recorded a minimum temperature of 12.5 deg Celsius, the lowest in over five decades. Last year, the average for October was relatively high and had come in at 19.9 deg Celsius, nearly 1 deg Celsius above average.

There is no respite likely in the coming week either and the minimum (night) temperature will continue to hover around 13 deg Celsius or lower. Also, with winds speed picking up from Tuesday, the chill factor would grow, and substantial nip in the air is to be expected in the morning hours.

This could go on to set up a chilly Diwali this year, Skymet Weather said. A cooler winter year at large is to be expected given that a full-blow La Nina event is at play in the tropical Pacific concurrently, which brings its own set of circulatory patterns in the northern latitudes during the season.

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