Tropical Cyclone 05B Forms Southeast of Chennai, India
Tropical Cyclone 05B has formed out of “System 96B” in the Northern Indian Ocean and is forecast to approach southeastern India by Sunday, December 13 and make landfall on Monday. On Friday, December 11 at 15:00 UTC (10 a.m. ET or 8 p.m. local Asia/ Kolkata time in Chennai, India), Tropical Storm 05B had maximum sustained winds near 40 mph. It was located about 370 nautical miles southeast of Chennai, India, near 9.3 North latitude and 85.1 East longitude. It was moving north-northeast near 7mph, but is expected to gradually turn west and head for landfall. Today, the Tropical Storm 05B is in an area of low wind shear, so it can continue to intensify. The only thing currently in 05B’s path is a strong zonal jet stream over central India, but forecasters expect that to lift north in the next two days, and that means 05B can strengthen. Tropical Storm 05B is projected to turn west in the Bay of Bengal and make landfall in the state of Tamil Nadu by December 14. |
Rainfall in the once-known Cyclone Cleo has really diminished over the last 24 hours, and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite has confirmed it. Cleo is fading and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center has acknowledged its demise, in its final warning on the storm today. At 4 a.m. ET today, December 11, Cleo’s maximum sustained winds were down to 40 mph, and waning fast. That make Cleo a weak tropical storm at the moment, but it is expected to dissipate in the next day or two, because of hostile atmospheric conditions (wind shear). Cleo’s center was located about 480 miles southwest of Diego Garcia, near 13.9 degree South latitude and 67.7 East longitude. |
