Cyclone Asna: The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a ‘red alert’ for coastal Karnataka in response to the rare Cyclone Asna threat, forecasting very heavy rain for Gujarat on Saturday, August 31. The cyclone building up over Gujarat’s Saurashtra-Kutch region is unusual for this time of year. It is projected to move into the Arabian Sea and head towards Oman.
“The Cyclonic Storm ASNA over the northeast Arabian Sea off Kachchh and adjoining Pakistan coasts moved westwards with a speed of 14 kmph during past 6 hours and lay centered at 2330 hours IST of 30th August, 2024 over the same region, 160 km south-southwest of Karachi (Pakistan)”, wrote India Meteorological Department.
Cyclone Asna, which Pakistan has named, is the first cyclonic storm to develop in the Arabian Sea in August since 1976. The storm is now advancing west-northwest, moving away from the Indian coast. As of August 29, the deep depression was located 60 km northwest of Bhuj and 80 km northeast of Naliya in Gujarat, bringing heavy rains to the state.
The deep depression that has caused torrents of rain over Gujarat for the past three days is likely to move west wards along the coast of Pakistan and Iran. In the upcoming 12 hours, the depression would emerge into the northeast Arabian Sea off Kutch and adjoining Saurashtra and Pakistan coasts and intensify into a cyclonic storm, the IMD stated in its latest release.
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