Cyclone 'Tej' Positions Itself in Southwest Arabian Sea, Expected To Strengthen Even More Near Yemen And Oman

Cyclone 'Tej' has gained strength over the Southwest Arabian Sea and is projected to intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm within the next 12 hours, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The IMD reported on Saturday, 21st October that a low-pressure area in the southeast and southwest Arabian Sea had transitioned into a depression and will likely move northwestwards further intensifying into a 'very severe cyclonic storm' in the next twelve hours.

In a statement on X, formerly twitter, the IMD announced, "SCS "Tej" over SW Arabian Sea lay centered at 1730 IST about 440 km ESE of Socotra (Yemen), 800 km SSE of Salalah (Oman) and 830 km southeast of Al Ghaidah (Yemen). Very likely to move west-northwestwards and intensify further into a VSCS during next 12 hours"

Manorama Mohanty, director of the Meteorological Centre in Ahmedabad, informed PTI, "It is expected to turn into a severe cyclonic storm by the evening of October 22 and move towards the south Oman and Yemen coast." As of now, there is no such threat to Gujarat, as the state's relief commissioner was quoted by India Today as saying. Mohanty has assured that "weather in Gujarat will remain dry for the next seven days."

The IMD's forecast suggests that the cyclone is anticipated to strengthen into a severe cyclonic storm by October 22 and move in the direction of the south coasts of Oman and adjacent Yemen, veering away from the Indian coastline.

Previously, updates from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had indicated that cyclone 'Tej,' originating from a low-pressure region, is not expected to impact Mumbai.

IMD classifies cyclones based on their 3-minute average maximum sustained wind speeds.

The classifications, in increasing order of severity, include 'Cyclonic Storm' (63-88 kmph), 'Severe Cyclonic Storm' (89-117 kmph), 'Very Severe Cyclonic Storm' (118-165 kmph), 'Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm' (166-220 kmph), with those exceeding 221 kmph labeled as 'Supercyclones.'