“This is a special tropical coverage that started from May 13 and will end on May 16”
Cyclone Mahasen losing steam?
The 2013 North Indian ocean cyclone season started off with the formation of a depression BOB 01 in the Bay of Bengal on May 10 that later intensified into the season’s first full blown cyclone. On average 4 to 6 tropical depressions form in the North Indian ocean, more in the Bay of Bengal than the Arabian sea.
King ‘Mahasen’ cyclone!
Cyclone ‘Mahasen’ formed on May 11 in the southern Bay of Bengal, the word ‘Mahasen’ has been contributed by Sri Lanka. Mahasen was a king of Sri Lanka who ruled the country from 275 to 301 AD.
Rare: Connection of South and North Indian Ocean
Cyclone Mahasen and Jamala
A very rare phenomenon occurred both in the south-west and north Indian ocean. On May 11, cyclone ‘Jamala’ in the south-west Indian ocean was just south of cyclone ‘Mahasen’. Jamala was moving in a clockwise-direction while Mahasen was moving in a counter-clockwise direction however later in the day Mahasen absorbed the moisture from Jamala as it was the larger storm thus leading a end of Jamala.
Two cyclones in different part of oceans
In May 2002, this phenomenon took place when a cyclone formed in North Indian ocean’s Arabian sea while another cyclone in south-west Indian ocean was near Madagascar. The two storm erupted from the same large area of disturbance.
Timing of updates – 3:00 pm PKT (mid-day), 6:30 pm PKT (evening) and 9:00 pm PKT (night)
Update issued on May 13 at 6:00 pm PKT (also for 9:00 pm)
Tropical cyclone ‘Mahasen’ is just 700 km south-east of Indian city of Chennai while 1300 km south-south-west of Bangladeshi city of Chittagong during last few days it has moved in a WNW direction and due to the incoming westerlies, Mahasen is likely to curve in a Northwards direction briefly before taking a sharp re-curve in a NE track, at the moment the system is slowly moving in a NW direction almost stationary. Mahasen may intensify further into a category-1 hurricane or even a low end category-2 hurricane but the storm would accelerate after taking the NE track therefore the chances of intensification are low. Mahasen would start to weaken rapidly on May 15 mid-day/evening morning due to increase in vertical wind shear as it makes landfall over Bangladesh-Burma coast. Following are the main features of the storm as of now;
- Movement: NW
- Winds: 55 mph (88 km/h)
- Pressure: 996 mbar
- Landfall: Bangladesh-Burma coast (May 15 night/May 16 morning)
- UNDER THREAT NOW: Eastern coast of India
As of today, Showers have occurred in Chennai. Indian states of Orissa, coastal Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadi can get showers at time moderate with windy conditions (46 km/h to 56 km/h). Sri Lanka can experience frequent moderate rain with isolated heavy falls and strong winds (above 56 km/h) as the outer bands have gripped Sri Lanka.
