Though the mainland Oman sees cyclones often, but cyclones which crosses with wind speed crossing the mainland Oman are very rare, as most cyclone will start to fizzle out in the desert belt as a result of dry winds. But Cyclone Shaheen has manged to survive and even going to cross the coast of oman later tonight with with sustained winds around 120 km/hr winds gusts will even tough 150 km/hr winds. Lets see the past cyclone which has caused devastation due to high winds.
Cyclone with high winds crossing Oman coast in last 130 years.
Only 6 cyclones in the past 130 years has managed to cross the Oman mainland with over 100 km/hr wind speeds in 1890, 1959, 1977, 2007, 2010 and 2018. We can see off late there is increase in cyclones going to oman and even crossing as strong ones.
1890 Cyclone – June 5 – After entering the Gulf of Oman, a cyclone struck Sohar in northeastern Oman after passing just northeast of Muscat, where it washed ships ashore. There, the storm dropped 286 mm of rainfall over 24 hours, the highest daily precipitation total in the nation’s history. High winds wrecked many houses, and about 50 people died in Muscat and nearby Muttrah. Inland flooding downed thousands of date palm trees and inundated valleys. Nationally, the storm killed at least 757 people. The present Cyclone Shaheen is also going to cross close to Sohar, is the point to be noted.
1959 Cyclone – May 24 – The eye of a storm passed over southwestern Oman near Raysut. Wind gusts were estimated at 167 km/h and the barometric pressure dropped to 968 mbar. The storm cut power supply and wrecked many local houses. Salalah recorded 117 mm of rainfall, with higher totals in the mountains, washing away the road connecting Slalah and Raysut. Offshore, strong waves destroyed several boats, including a dhow carrying 141 people, all those aboard the boat were killed.
1977 Cyclone (Strongest till Gonu in 2007) June 13 – With sustained winds of 165 km/h (105 mph) and gusts to 230 km/h, a powerful cyclone hit Masirah Island and progressed onto the Omani mainland, remaining the most powerful storm to strike the Arabian Peninsula until Cyclone Gonu in 2007. The winds damaged nearly every building on Masirah Island, including at the military base, while rainfall on the island reached 430.6 mm in 24 hours, more than six times the average annual precipitation there. The total was the highest daily rainfall in the period from 1977 to 2003 nationwide. Slightly higher rainfall – 482.3 mm (18.99 in) – was reported at a station 40 km northeast of Salalah. The cyclone was considered the worst disaster in Oman during the 20th century, causing 105 deaths.
Cyclone Gonu 2007 – June 6 – Cyclone Gonu made landfall in extreme eastern Oman near Ras al Hadd with winds of 150 km/hr, making it the strongest tropical cyclone on record to strike the Arabian Peninsula. The storm produced winds of 100 km/hr in the capital Muscat, with a peak gust of 180 km/hr at Qalhat. Heavy rainfall occurred in the eastern portion of the country, peaking at 943 mm on Asfar Mountain. The storm prompted the country’s main oil port, Mina al Fahal, to close for three days, while also causing widespread water and power outages. The storm damaged 25,419 houses and over 13,000 vehicles. Gonu killed 50 people and caused US$4.2 billion in damage in Oman, making it the worst natural disaster on record in the country. Hundreds of people in the United Arab Emirates had to evacuate due to high waves from Gonu. The storm later crossed the Gulf of Oman and struck Iran.
Cyclone Phet 2010 – June 3, made landfall in eastern Oman with winds of 120 km/h northeast of Masirah, taking what the IMD described as one of the longest and rarest tracks in the basin; the storm later turned to the east and struck Pakistan. In Oman, the storm dropped heavy rainfall and produced strong wind gusts, which temporarily stopped oil production. Phet damaged roads and power lines, and washed away hundreds of cars. Damage was estimated at US$780 million), and there were 24 deaths in the country.
Cyclone Mekunu 2018 – May 25 – made landfall in southwestern Oman, after brushing the Yemeni island of Socotra. The cyclone killed 31 people – 20 on Socotra, 4 on the Yemini mainland, and 7 in Oman. Damage was estimated at US$1.5 billion. Heavy rainfall created the first lakes in 20 years in Rub’ al Khali, or the Empty Quarter. creating favorable breeding conditions that led to a severe locust infestation that affected 10 countries
Cyclone Shaheen 2021
Cyclone Gulab which came as pulse from Indo-China and developed as cyclone crossed North AP coast near Kalingapattinam and from there it moved along the axis and managed to survive and crossed the Indian mainland via Gujarat and took re-birth as Cyclone Shaheen. Arabian Sea cyclones are always a mystery as many of them off late is able to survive against odds and cross land at cyclone intensity. We have seen so many cyclones sustaining in past 5-6 years. Some change has indeed happened with respect to Arabian Sea Cyclones for creating monsters out of no where.
What is to be expected from Cyclone Shaheen
Even now the Cyclone has a clear eye which shows that it is going to cross with Sustained winds of around 120 km/hr and gusts are expected to reach 150 km/hr. Mostly the areas around as Khabara, Hafit, Albudayah and Saham going to see the wrath of the Cyclone. Followed by huge dumping of rains. We can see Saheen with a beautiful eye. Definitely not a weak cyclone.
Rains are going to be huge with 150-250 mm expected to be dumped on the path of the Cyclone. The areas north of cyclone crossing area such as Saham will see very very heavy rainfall.
CSK vs DC match at Dubai
The match between CSK and DC will happen and not much will be affected as the cyclone is going south of Dubai and only light rains are expected earlier in the day on 4th at Dubai. So it will be all clear during the match time.
