WeatherFanatics: Tropical Cyclone Hudhud Aims for India

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Tropical Cyclone Hudhud Aims for India

By Eric Leister, Meteorologist

October 11,2014; 9:37PM,EDT

While most of the action has been in the Pacific Ocean this year, a tropical cyclone has formed in the Bay of Bengal, becoming only the third tropical system of the year to do so.
Neither of the previous tropical systems strengthened beyond tropical depression status.
Tropical Cyclone Hudhud, formally known as Cyclone 3B, is the first organized tropical system in the Bay of Bengal since the middle of May. This is also only the second named cyclone of the northern Indian Ocean season.

Hudhud was the equivalent of a strong Category 3 hurricane with winds sustained at 200 kph (125 mph) before making landfall on Sunday morning near Visakhapatnam.
More than 500,000 residents in five coastal districts have already been evacuated according to The Times of India.
Hudhud is the strongest tropical cyclone so far this season in the northern Indian Ocean, beating out Nanauk which had winds peaking at 85 kph (50 mph).
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Areas from Kakinada in northern Andhra Pradesh northward to Berhampur in southern Odisha should closely monitor this potential cyclone for possible impacts. Flooding rain and damaging winds are expected within this area.
Any damaging winds will likely be limited to areas within 160 kilometers (100 miles) of where Hudhud makes landfall.
Wind gusts near the center of the storm are expected peak over 160 kph (100 mph). This includes in Visakhapatnam where extensive damage is expected.
Rainfall amounts in excess of 150 millimeters (6 inches) are possible near where Hudhud is expected to make landfall, including the city of Visakhapatnam as well. Rainfall will likely top 250 mm (10 inches) in some locations in northern Andhra Pradesh. There will be the risk for mudslides in the Eastern Ghats just inland from the coast.

The system is expected to weaken as it move over land and is cut off from the warm waters of the Bay of Bengal. However, the cyclone will continue to bring heavy rain to interior portions of India even while transitioning into a tropical rainstorm.
"Areas in central India, near Nagpur, will see the smaller rain amounts as beneficial," AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Jason Nicholls said. "This region is one area that has seen less monsoonal moisture than usual this [monsoon] season."
The core of the heaviest rain into the middle of the new week, however, will likely sweep to the northeast towards the India-Nepal border. This same area saw catastrophic flooding less than a month ago, with mudslides. Upwards of 150 mm (6 inches) of rain may fall in these areas.
AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Courtney Spamer and Jordan Root contributed content to this story.

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