Cyclone Phet approaching Karachi

cyclone phet approaches Pakistan
cyclone phet approaches Pakistan

Hurricane Season 2010 is arriving at the shores of Pakistan in form of Phet, a tropical storm brewing in Indian Ocean.

NASA’s Terra satellite flew over Tropical Cyclone Phet at 06:55 UTC (2:55 a.m. EDT or 6:55 p.m. local time/Pakistan). The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument, or MODIS captured a visible image of Phet at that time, and noticed an eye in the center of the storm’s circulation. Satellite imagery indicates the eye is about 12 kilometers (7 miles) in diameter.

At 0900 UTC (9 p.m. local time/Pakistan), Tropical Cyclone Phet had maximum sustained winds near 110 knots (126 mph) with gusts to 135 knots (155 mph). It is now considered a major cyclone (equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale). It is about 560 miles southwest of Karachi, Pakistan, near 17.7 North and 60.6 East. It is moving to the northwest near 5 knots (6 mph). Cyclone-force winds extend to 35 miles from the storm’s center, while tropical-storm force winds extend as far as 75 miles from the center. It is creating very rough seas on the Arabian Sea with waves as high as 18 feet.

Cyclone Phet is a threat to coastal Oman, India (Gujarat), and Pakistan (Sindh and Balochistan). The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) has forecast the storm to continue intensifying and to approach Oman on its way to a weekend landfall in southeastern Pakistan between Karachi and to the border with India.

Hopefully Phet will lose its strength and scale down to a tropical storm when it reaches Karachi. [forecast by Tropical Storm Risk]

tropical storm phet


4 thoughts on “Cyclone Phet approaching Karachi”

  1. Hi,
    Will you please keep me with the update, when do you think it will reach Karachi? How bad things look? Please reply ASAP.
    Thanks.
    Khalid Saiyed

    Reply

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