'Extremely severe' cyclone heading for Yemen, Oman: UN
Source: AFP
Geneva (AFP) - The UN's weather agency warned Friday a "super cyclonic storm" was heading towards Oman and war-ravaged Yemen, where it could strike with hurricane force and dump torrential rain that may trigger landslides.
Named Chapala, the storm is brewing in the Arabian Sea and is expected to make landfall in northern Yemen and the adjoining Oman coast around midnight Monday, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said.
"Tropical cyclones are extremely rare over the Arabian peninsula," WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis told reporters, adding that the storm might well be the first of its kind to hit Yemen.
It is set to hit at a time when Yemen remains wracked by a conflict that has claimed nearly 5,000 lives since March.
Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/extremely-severe-cyclone-heading-yemen-oman-un-143940286.html
Cyclone Chapala could become the strongest on record in the Arabian Sea and may make an unprecedented landfall at hurricane strength along the coast of Yemen or southwest Oman in the days ahead.
Chapala has rapidly intensified and is currently estimated to have winds of Category 4 hurricane intensity and may reach Category 5 intensity soon.
While direct measurements from reconnaissance aircraft are not available over the Arabian Sea, Chapala's rate of intensification from a high-end tropical storm to a high-end Category 4 storm in 24 hours from early Thursday to early Friday morning, U.S. time, is quite impressive for this part of the world.
http://www.weather.com/storms/hurricane/news/cyclone-chapala-yemen-oman-arabian-peninsula
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I was intrigued. Rain in the desert big time! Am thinking it may churn up some rough sand storms. 
