“Extremely Severe Cyclone” Tauktae to cross Gujarat coast tonight

It is very likely to cross Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva (Bhavnagar district) between 11 and 11:30 p.m. with a maximum sustained wind speed 155-165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph.

The Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm “Tauktae” (pronounced 'Tau’Te) over east central Arabian Sea moved nearly northwards with a speed of about 13 kmph during the past six hours and lay centred at 1130 hours on Monday. It is about 145 km west of Mumbai, 180 km south-southeast of Diu, 220 km southeast of Veraval (Gujarat), and 475 km east-southeast of Karachi (Pakistan), said the latest joint bulletin of Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) here and India Meteorological Department (IMD). It is very likely to cross Gujarat coast between Porbandar and Mahuva (Bhavnagar district) to the east of Diu during the night (2000 – 2300 hrs IST) with a maximum sustained wind speed 155-165 kmph gusting to 185 kmph. High wave/ocean state warnings have been issued for Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala and Lakshadweep with flooding of low lying areas, light to heavy rainfall and top wind speeds. Maharashtra: High waves of 3.5 – 7.1 meters are forecasted upto 2330 hours of May 18 beyond 10 km off the coast from Malvan to Vasai with surface current speeds varying between 79 - 178 cm/sec. Possibility of low lying areas - Malvan, Munage, Phanase, Velas, Colaba, Gateway of India may be surged. Goa: Possibility of Mormugao, Panjim, Vasco da Gama to be surged by sea water with high waves of 3.5 – 6.8 meters forecast beyond 10 km off the coast of Goa from Vengurla to Vasco. Current speeds vary between 58 - 168 cm/sec.