Likely to spare Sindh coast, Ashobaa turns city weather pleasant

KARACHI: The tropical cyclone Ashobaa, currently located at around 700 kilometres south of the city, has turned north-west towards the Persian Gulf, missing the Sindh coast though affecting weather in Pakistan’s coastal areas including Karachi.

Due to the cyclonic activity, the sea will be very rough from Monday to Friday, according to the Met office that has advised fishermen to avoid going in the open sea.

Though still quite far from the coast, Ashobaa has started influencing the weather of Karachi that experienced a cloudy day, said a weatherman.

He added that weather in the metropolis was expected to be partly cloudy with chances of rain or thundershowers on Tuesday.

Director of the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre, Karachi, Qayoom Bhutto said the tropical cyclone currently located in the east-central Arabian Sea was moving at a speed of 15 kilometres an hour. It moved north and north-westwards on Monday afternoon. About 700kms south of Karachi, this cyclone was likely to intensify further and move north-westwards within the next 24 hours, he added.

He said sea conditions along the Sindh-Makran coast were likely to remain from rough to very rough and associated with occasional stormy winds from Monday afternoon till Friday. The maximum tide height was expected to be between 12 and 15 feet, he added.

Mr Bhutto said the fishermen of Sindh had been advised not to go in the open sea till Thursday while Balochistan fishermen were advised not to go in the open sea from Tuesday to Friday.

Under the influence of this system, rain or thundershowers of moderate intensity (between 25 and 35 millimetres) accompanied with winds blowing up to the speed of 30 to 40 kilometres were expected in Karachi, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Tharparkar, Thatta, Badin, and Sujawal districts within next 24 to 48 hours, the official said.

Coastal areas of Balochistan were expected to experience such conditions after 36 hours (around Wednesday), he added.

Published in Dawn, June 9th, 2015

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