Karachi: A severe tropical storm “Nilofer” is about 1140 km away from Karachi, accelerating continuously

Nilofer” may hit many parts of Pakistan and India. The cyclone started mounting in northwest Arabian Sea 5 to 7 days ago.

Latest Satellite image and predicted areas on October 27 at 18:00 PST

According to an advisory placed by the Met department at its website at about 6pm on Monday, the cyclone is located at latitude 15.5°N and longitude 61.9°E, about 1140km south-southwest of Karachi and 1060km south of Gwadar. Under the influence of this Cyclone, thunder showers with very heavy falls accompanied by strong gusty winds are expected in Lower Sindh including Karachi and Coastal Areas of Balochistan during Wednesday (night) to Friday.

Meteorological conditions in the region indicate that the severe tropical cyclone may further intensify into a ‘very severe tropical cyclone’ on Monday night. The sea conditions along the country’s coast will be rough to very rough from Wednesday to Friday. Fishermen in Sindh and Balochistan are advised not to venture in the open sea during the period. The fishermen who are already in the open sea are advised to return to the coastal areas before Wednesday,” according to PMD website.

Chief meteorologist in Karachi Tausif Alam, who monitors the weather conditions in Sindh and Balochistan, said the cyclone was likely to continue to move west-northwest direction towards the Oman coast over the next 24 to 36 hours.

“It will then re-curve north-eastward and is likely to hit Indian Gujarat and Rann of Kutch and southeast Sindh (Nagarparkar, Mithi, Chor, Umerkot, Chachro and Islamkot), bringing heavy rain/thundershowers with isolated heavy falls at some places accompanied by strong gusty winds between Wednesday and Friday, ” Alam said. Under the influence of the weather system, he said, moderate to heavy rains were likely to occur in Thatta, Jati, Keti Bundar, Badin and Karachi between Thursday and Friday.

According to Mr. Alam, coastal areas of Balochistan, including Gwadar, Pasni, Jivani and Ormara, will also experience the effect of cyclone on Wednesday. Cyclone Nilofar was similar to that of Phet which passed through Sindh in 2010, he further said. He added the most devastating was the 2007 super cyclonic storm Gonu which had brought high torrential rains in coastal areas and cut off some areas of Balochistan from the rest of the country and also affected Keti Bundar and Thatta.

Climate changes also affectes the cyclone pattern in the Arabian Sea, Mr. Alam said the pattern was normal given the track record that cyclones in the region either occurred pre-monsoon (May-June) or post-monsoon (Oct-Nov).