KARACHI: A very severe cyclonic storm, ‘Kyarr’, is developing over the east-central Arabian Sea and it has “very rapidly” intensified into a super cyclonic storm during the past 12 hours, said the Meteorological Department on Sunday.

“Currently, none of the Pakistan coastal areas is under direct threat from this system,” said a cyclone advisory issued by the Met Office. However, under its influence scattered rains and thunderstorms are expected in lower Sindh and along Makran coast from Monday (today) to Wednesday.

It said: “The system lay centred at 0800 PST of 27th October with maximum sustained surface winds of 230-240kmh gusting 260kmh, at about 850km south of Karachi and 1,500km east of Salalah.”

A city weatherman said the TC-Kyarr was likely to move further northwestward towards Oman coast.

The Met Office advised fishermen to remain alert and not to venture in the deep sea from today. They added the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre of the PMD was regularly monitoring the intensity and track of that tropical cyclone.

It asked the aviation and naval authorities, chief secretaries and disaster management of Sindh and Balochistan and National Institute of Oceanography to keep them abreast of the system.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2019