Two systems to watch today. Tropical cyclone Sidr is now a category 4 cyclone, moving slowly north through the Bay of Bengal. It is expected to weaken through today and tomorrow, making landfall in exactly 24 hours from now (1800 GMT) with winds of 90 mph. I cannot forecast the stormsurge, but the JTWC output suggests waves out at sea run at 32 feet, and the description of a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale suggests a 10 ft surge. Bangladesh should be on red alert; the Indian weather service has put West Bengal on Yellow Alert. The number of hits on my TC blog (220 so far today) is an indication of the level of concern experienced around the world. It is even being quoted on a handful of sites.
Tropical cyclone Guba is a tropical storm north of Cairns in Australia, that may bring windy conditions up to galeforce to the area between Cape Flattery and Thursday Island in far northern Queensland.
I am going to visit your TC blog as I am curious what the difference between a cyclone and a hurricane is. God help those folks in the path of this storm.
ReplyDeleteLisa