Cyclone Phyan Raining on Tibet After Breaking a Record in India

Cyclone Phyan broke a 43 year record when it made landfall north of the city of Mumbai, India during the evening hours on November 11. NASA’s Aqua satellite captured Phyan’s landfall with one instrument, and a day later, another of Aqua’s instruments show the storm’s remnants raining Tibet as Phyan continues to dissipate.

Phyan is the first tropical cyclone to make an appearance in November in the Konkan region of India since 1996. The India Meteorological Department confirmed that the last November appearance of a storm in that region was 43 years ago. As Phyan was making landfall, NASA’s Aqua satellite passed overhead, and the Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer captured a stunning visual image of the storm on November 11 at 0845 UTC (3:45 ET).

Today, November 12 at 1:30 p.m. local time (2:30 a.m. ET) another instrument on Aqua called the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) captured an image of Phyan’s remnant cold clouds and showers over Tibet. The AIRS image showed that Phyan still had cold cloud tops as cold as -27F and was dumping moderate rainfall over Lake Manasarovar and Raksas Tal in Tibet.

The official final warning on Phyan was issued on November 11 at 1500 UTC (10 a.m. ET) from the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Phyan’s center was located near 19.2 degrees North latitude and 73.6 East longitude, about 30 miles east-northeast of Mumbai, India. Cyclone Phyan had maximum sustained winds near 40 knots (46 mph) and it was moving northeast near 16 mph.

According to Sifynews.com, before Phyan came ashore, the storm caused the deaths of seven fishermen. As of this morning, November 12, there are still 100 fisherman missing in the Arabian Sea because of the rough conditions the cyclone created on its approach to its landfall. Pyhan also affected the Sugar cane industry. Sugar cane harvesting was delayed because of flooded fields in Maharashtra, India’s second-biggest producer. Maharashtra is a state located on India’s western coast. Other reports cited damages to more than 7,500 homes. Almost 100 were destroyed from Phyan’s tropical storm force winds as wind gusts to 55 mph were reported upon Phyan’s landfall. Phyan’s remnants should dissipate over Tibet later today or tomorrow.

The twenty-fifth tropical depression formed in the western Pacific Ocean this weekend, and just as the week is getting under way, the depression is already fading. NASA’s Aqua satellite confirmed the storm’s disorganization in visible imagery of the storm’s shape.

Tropical depression 25W (TD25W) was out at sea and away from land today, November 9, when it was starting to weaken due to battering winds. It was located 435 miles west-northwest of Wake Island, near 20.6 North and 160.5 East. Wake Island is a coral atoll with a 12 mile long coastline in the north western Pacific Ocean. It’s about 2,300 miles west of Honolulu, Hawaii and 1,510 miles east of Guam.

NASA’s Aqua satellite flew over Tropical Depression 25W on November 9 at 02:17 UTC and the AIRS instrument captured a visible image of the dying storm. AIRS imagery showed that the storm appeared as an oval shape instead of the signature rounded form of a powerful tropical cyclone.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center, the organization the forecasts tropical cyclones in that area of the world, issued their final warning on 25W this morning at 4 a.m. ET. At that time, 25W still had maximum sustained winds near 40 knots (46 mph), although wind shear (winds blowing at different levels of the atmosphere that tear a storm apart) continues to weaken 25W. 25W’s center continues to move in an east-southeast direction near 10 mph, and was kicking up waves up to 10 feet high.

Wind shear is increasing in the area that Tropical Depression 25W is moving toward, and the storm is expected to dissipate in the next 24-48 hours.