Cyclone Nisarga update: Cyclone now 80 km southeast of Mumbai, says IMD

Cyclone Nisarga — headed towards the Gujarat and Maharashtra coast — has begun landfall on the Maharashtra coast, with the entire process set to complete in three hours, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on June 3, 2020. The weather department said wind speeds of 100-110 kmph can be expected during the landfall, which will take place in Alibaug, around 100 kilometres south from Mumbai.

• Wind speed of 72 kmph recorded at south Mumbai’s Colaba at 12.30 pm: IMD
• Harnai, in Ratnagiri district, in south western Maharashtra records 74 kmph wind speed: IMD
• The cyclone is currently 80 km east-southeast of south Mumbai’s Colaba
• Mumbai will bear the brunt of the cyclone with winds, heavy rainfall and storm surge
• Nisarga lay centred over coastal Maharashtra at 2.30 pm, with gusts of 110 kmph and wind speed of 90-100 kmph
• Nisarga to bring heavy rain, strong winds and a possible storm surge to the city
• Nisarga will decrease in intensity to a cyclone from a severe cyclone in the next four hours and maintain this intensity for the next six hours
• The cyclone will subsequently de-intensify into a depression on June 4 afternoon
• This means many areas in Madhya Pradesh and eastern Maharashtra can get heavy to very heavy rainfall
• Intensive convective cloud develops along Konkan coast
• Nisarga will be the first cyclone to hit Maharashtra coast in June since 1891: IMD

• Cyclone Vayu, formed in June last year, was supposed to make landfall in Maharashtra then. The cyclone, however, moved towards Gujarat
• Most cyclones on west coast during June in the past moved to Gujarat and the Pakistan coasts or further west to Oman and Yemen
• Cyclone Nisarga may lose intensity once it makes landfall, according to a prediction by the European Centre for medium-range weather forecasts
• Maharashtra government releases list of Dos and Don’ts to minimise property damage
• Guidelines recommend people to seal important documents and jewelry in plastic bags, inspect reserve power systems, keep emergency kits at hand, stay away from windows, keep some closed and some open to maintain pressure, etc

“The storm will cross Maharashtra coast between Harihareshwar and Daman, very close to Alibaug between 1 and 4 pm,” Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director General of Meteorology, IMD was quoted as saying by news channel NDTV.