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In early June, a tropical depression formed over the central part of the Arabian Sea, slowly drifting northwards and intensifying gradually to extremely severe cyclonic storm BIPARJOY, with sustained winds of up to 195 kph. The cyclone made landfall on June 15, 2023, in the border region of India and Pakistan over the Rann of Kutch.
By early June, a low-level cyclonic circulation formed over the central part of the Arabian Sea. Moving northwards towards the Indian Subcontinent, the tropical circulation intensified into a tropical cyclone by June 06, 2023. In the following days, the cyclone BIPARJOY intensified to an extremely severe cyclonic storm over the warm waters of the Arabian Sea with sea surface temperatures close to the 30 °C-mark. On June 11, 2023, the cyclone reached its peak intensity with sustained winds of up to 195 kph and a minimum central pressure of 945 hPa, roughly equal to a category 3 hurricane in the Atlantic Basin.
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500 hPa Geopotential and surface pressure in Asia with tropical cyclone BIPARJOY over the Arabian Sea, 06.06.2023 00 UTC - 17.06.2023 00 UTC, source:
wetter3
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In the following, the cyclone moved slowly northwestwards, while slowly weakening. By June 14, 2023, the cyclone unexpectedly increased in the strength will stalling over the Arabian Sea. In the following days, the cyclone moved towards the coast India and Pakistan. Before the landfall on the June 15, 2023, the cyclone weakened gradually into a severe cyclonic storm with sustained winds around 110 kph. The cyclone made landfall over the Rann of Kutch in the border region of Pakistan and India, a sparsely populated salt march in the Indian Kutch district.
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Track and intensity of extremely severe cyclonic storm BIPARJOY (left), source: NASA, sea surface temperature anomaly over the Arabian Sea 08.06.2023, source:
NASA, visualization: K. Gramlich
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Upon landfall on June 16, 2023, the cyclone dissipated quickly into a broad low-pressure area bringing heavy precipitation to the Kutch district. As the low-pressure system of the former tropical cyclone BIPARJOY brought localized heavy precipitation to regions further inland. The tropical cyclone led to the death of at least 16 people in India, while the adjacent regions in Pakistan were lesser affected by the landfall of BIPARJOY. Overall, the formation of tropical cyclones before the onset of the wet season of the Indian monsoon over the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Bengal isn't uncommon as shown by both the tropical cyclones MAWAR and BIPARJOY in recent week.
Text: KG
June 18, 2023
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