The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has released data suggesting that Cyclone Biparjoy will be the fifth severe or higher category cyclone to cross Gujarat in the past 25 years. This makes it only the third extremely severe cyclone to develop in the Arabian Sea during June in the past 58 years.
Authorities have moved 7,500 people to safer places and put in place an elaborate evacuation plan.
Cyclone Biparjoy is set to become the cyclone with the longest lifespan in the Arabian Sea. This will mark the third cyclone to hit the western state of Gujarat in June since 1965, according to IMD records.
“Based on data from 1965 to 2022 for the month of June, 13 cyclones developed over the Arabian Sea. Of these, two crossed the Gujarat coast, one crossed the Maharashtra coast, one crossed the Pakistan coast, three weakened over the Oman-Yemen coasts, and six dissipated over the sea,” stated the IMD. Prior to 2023, only two cyclones had crossed the Gujarat coast in June. One was a severe cyclone in 1996, and the other was an extremely severe cyclonic storm in 1998.
Cyclone Biparjoy, which formed over the southeast Arabian Sea on June 6 at 5:30 am, has already had a lifespan of approximately seven days and 12 hours. The extremely severe Cyclone Kyarr in 2019 holds the record for the longest lifespan in the Arabian Sea, lasting nine days and 15 hours. It developed over the east-central Arabian Sea, underwent multiple recurvatures, and weakened over the southwest Arabian Sea.
Similarly, the very severe cyclonic storm Gaja in 2018, which formed over the southeast Bay of Bengal, had a lifespan of nine days and 15 hours. It crossed the southern peninsular region, emerged into the Arabian Sea, and weakened there, according to the IMD.
Cyclone Biparjoy is projected to cross Saurashtra, Kutch, and the adjoining Pakistan coasts between Mandvi in Gujarat and Karachi in Pakistan near Jakhau Port (Gujarat) around noon on June 15 as a very severe cyclonic storm with maximum sustained wind speeds of 125-135 kmph, gusting up to 150 kmph.
Meteorologists attribute the sustained strength of Cyclone Biparjoy to rapid intensification in its initial days and the unusually warm Arabian Sea. The IMD has issued heavy rainfall warnings for several districts in Gujarat, including Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbandar, Jamnagar, Rajkot, Junagarh, and Morbi.
All fishing operations in the east-central, west-central, and north Arabian Sea will be completely suspended until June 15.