Published By: Sayan Paul

Gujarat Floods: Cyclone Asna Forming In Arabian Sea - Did You Know It's An Extremely Rare Meteorological Event?

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), this cyclone will travel from the Saurashtra-Kutch region of Gujarat in the direction of the Oman coast.

Gujarat has been receiving incessant heavy rainfall for the past few days, leading to a severe flood that has brought life to a standstill. According to meteorologists, a deep depression over Saurashtra and Kutch region is behind the disaster - and the situation is likely to worsen as that depression is turning into a cyclonic storm over the northeast Arabian Sea. The IMD said that the cyclone is expected to move west-southwestwards in the direction of the Oman coast, and hence won't impact the Indian coastline directly. However, the rainfall in Gujarat and surrounding regions may intensify due to this.

Credit: India Meteorological Department

The cyclone is called Asna (a name suggested by Pakistan) and is currently sandwiched between two anticyclones – one over the Tibetan Plateau and another over the Arabian Peninsula. With this alignment, Asna has maintained its intensity steady for the past few days.

Asna Is An Extremely Rare Meteorological Event

Usually, cyclones around South Asia are formed during the pre-monsoon (March-May) or the post-monsoon (October-December) period. Asna is emerging due to an unusual monsoon wind system. A senior meteorologist at the IMD said in a statement, "Development of cyclonic storms in the month of August over the Arabian Sea is a rare activity".

According to data from the IMD, this is the first cyclone to have formed in August in the North Indian Ocean (NIO) region since 1981 and the first in the Arabian Sea since 1976.

Credit: Weather monitor

Historically, only three such cyclonic storms have emerged over the Arabian Sea in August in the last 80 years.

About The Previous Phenomena

In 1944, a cyclone emerged in the Arabian Sea and intensified shortly after. However, it weakened subsequently mid-sea.

In 1964, a short cyclone developed near the South Gujarat coast and weakened near the coast.

The cyclone in 1976 emerged near Odisha, moved west-northwestwards, and intensified into the Arabian Sea. After making a looping track, it weakened over the northwest Arabian Sea near the Oman coast.

Credit: Let's talk Gujarat!

It's also worth noting that there has been a total of 28 such systems in August over the Bay of Bengal during the last 132 years.

About The Current Cyclone

According to the IMD, a 'low pressure' area was formed over the northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas of West Bengal and Bangladesh on the morning of August 16.

"It moved across Bangladesh, West Bengal, and Jharkhand and lay as a well-marked low-pressure area over Southeast Uttar Pradesh and adjoining northeast Madhya Pradesh in the morning of August 24. Moving further westwards, it concentrated into a depression over Northwest MP and neighborhood in the morning of August 25. It intensified into a deep depression in the morning of August 26 over East Rajasthan and the neighborhood. It moved nearly westwards across Gujarat region and lay over Saurashtra and Kutch on August 29."

Credit: Press Trust of India

Notably, the massive floods in Gujarat have already claimed the lives of 32 people over the past few days. Around 32,000 people have been relocated, while more than 1,200 peoplerescued from the affected regions.