Dangerous Cyclone Mahasen gathering strength in the Bay of Bengal
| Posted by:Dr. Jeff Masters, 4:25 PM GMT on May 11, 2013 | +20 |
Figure 1. Latest satellite image of Tropical Cyclone Mahasen gathering strength over the Indian Ocean's Bay of Bengal.
Forecast for Mahasen
The official forecast brings Mahasen to Category 1 strength before landfall occurs in Bangladesh near the Myanmar border on Wednesday. Comparative model forecasts of Mahasen from the GFS, ECMWF, UKMET, GEM, NAVGEM, and FIM models show wide disagreement on the future intensity and speed of the storm, though. It is possible that wind shear will keep the storm disorganized and below hurricane strength until landfall, as suggested by the GFS and ECMWF models. The 06 UTC forecast from the HWRF model brings Mahasen to Category 3 strength on Monday, but weakens the storm to tropical storm strength at landfall. The model predicts that the storm will dump a significant area of heavy rains of 32 cm (12.6") over Maynmar and Bangladesh. The storm surge, high winds, and heavy rains of Mahasen are a huge concern for the thousands of Myanmar refugees living near the coast in makeshift camps, as reported by the New York Times.
Figure 2. Double trouble: Tropical Cyclone Jamala (lower) and Tropical Cyclone Mahasen (upper storm) spin on opposite sides of the Equator in this in this MODIS image taken at 04:25 UTC May 10, 2013. Mahasen is the name of a King of Sri Lanka from the 3rd century. Image credit: NASA.
MJO pulse that spawned Mahasen headed towards the Atlantic
Mahasen spun up in response to an active phase of the Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) that has been moving through the Indian Ocean during the past week. The MJO is a pattern of increased thunderstorm activity near the Equator that moves around the globe in 30 - 60 days. The strong MJO pulse coincided with a convectively coupled atmospheric Kelvin wave (CCKW), a wave of increased heat and moisture propagating along the Equator, which helped increase thunderstorm activity. The active pulse of the Madden Julian Oscillation is expected to reach the Western Caribbean sometime May 22 - 26, and there will be a heightened chance of an early-season tropical storm forming in the Eastern Pacific and Western Caribbean during that time period.
There is a small disturbance a few hundred miles north of Puerto Rico today that has developed some spin and a bit of heavy thunderstorm activity. This system is over cool waters of 77 - 79°F, and will likely be torn apart by high wind shear on Sunday.
Resources
Comparative model forecasts of Mahasen from the GFS, ECMWF, UKMET, GEM, NAVGEM, and FIM models
India Meteorological Department's tropical cyclone page
Bangladesh Meteorological Department Warning
Myanmar Dept. of Meteorology and Hydrology Warning
Tutorial on Equatorial Waves in the COMET program's Introduction to Tropical Meteorology, plus their case exercise built around the May 2002 "twin twins" case, for use in a tropical synoptic course.