People asked to stay away from sea as Kyarr intensifies

Muscat: People in Oman who have planned to venture out to sea over the next few days have been asked to postpone their plans by the county's Directorate General of Meteorology.

Tropical Cylone Kyarr is currently building in the Arabian Sea, off the Indian coastline, and is heading in a westerly direction towards Oman, leading to rough seas and high waves that are very dangerous for those going out into the open waters.

“Sea conditions across the coasts of South Al Sharqiyah, Al Wusta and Dhofar will be moderate to rough with maximum wave heights ranging between two and three metres, with chances of seawater inundation over low-level coastal areas starting from Saturday afternoon,” said the National Multi Hazard Early Warning Centre at the Directorate General of Meteorology.

“The National Multi Hazard Early Warning Centre's analysis indicates that the tropical cyclone Kyarr over eastern parts of the Arabian Sea near the coast of India on 26 October is located at longitude 70 degrees east and latitude 16.5 degrees north,” said the Public Authority for Civil Aviation’s Directorate General of Meteorology. “The tropical cyclone is about 350km away from the Indian coast and about 1,350km from the closest point of the Sultanate’s coast, Ras Madrakah.”

The National Multi Hazard Early Warning Centre will continue to monitor the situation at sea and will provide updates on the latest bulletins. Regular reports will be published every 48 hours.

The organisation added, “The latest numerical weather prediction indicates westerly to north-westerly movement towards the central Arabian Sea with a probability of further intensification into a tropical cyclone (category two) within the coming 24 hours with no direct impact over the Sultanate’s coast during the next four days.”

The United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center said, “On 25 October, Tropical Cyclone Kyarr was located near 16.3 degrees north, 71.9 degrees east, approximately 579 nautical miles south, south-east of Karachi, Pakistan and had tracked north-northeastward at four knots over the past six hours. Maximum sustained surface winds were estimated at 55 knots gusting to 70 knots.”