Cyclone Nilofar to Hit Gujarat by Saturday; Rains to Lash Rajasthan Today

30 October

Cyclonic storm Nilofar will most likely hit western regions of Rajasthan by Thursday evening bringing moderate to heavy rains, a Met official was quoted saying by Press Trust of India. 

Regions such as Jalore, Barmer, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Pali districts will experience rainfall due to Nilofar's residual effect, state Met director B N Vishnoi said.

29 October

As cyclone Nilofar approaches the western coast of the country, and is expected to make landfall in Gujarat's Naliya district in Kutch on Saturday, 30,000 people are set to be evacuated from the coastal regions. 

"We have decided to evacuate around 30,000 people living in 128 villages of eight tehsils. All these villages are near the coast. Based on the final prediction of the Met department, we will start evacuation tomorrow," Kutch collector Mahendra Patel told Press Trust of India on Tuesday.

While cyclone Nilofar is currently a very severe cyclonic storm, it is expected to lose speed and weaken into a cyclonic storm at the time of landfall, with windspeed of up to 100 kmph. 

28 October

Just weeks after cyclone Hudhud wreaked massive destruction on the east coast of the country, another storm -- Nilofar -- is brewing in the Arabian Sea and is set to hit the west coast, mainly Gujarat, in a few days.

The cyclone intensified into 'very severe cyclonic storm' on Monday, with winds gusting up to 145kmph, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The IMD sent out a 'Yellow Message' to the Prime Minister's Office, the National Disaster Response Force and to the governments of Gujarat, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Kerala, as well as to the administrators of Daman and Diu, Dadra Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep, informing them about the speed and distance of cyclone Nilofar. 

Cyclone Nilofar will reach north Gujarat and the coast of Pakistan by Saturday morning and is expected to bring very heavy rainfall in the coastal regions of Saurashtra and Kutch by Friday.

When the cyclone reaches the coast, it will have weakened to a cyclonic storm. 

The IMD has called for a total suspension of fishing operations to avoid any casualties in the storm. Fishermen have been issued a warning not to venture into sea in the next few days.

"We have hoisted distant warning signal number 2 at Veraval and Porbandar ports to warn fishermen. We also stopped giving port clearances to fishing trawlers. Roughly around 5,000 fishing boats are at sea. We are trying to contact them and ask them to reach the nearest port," Pravinchandra Malli, assistant director of fisheries for Kutch, Surendranagar and Jamnagar districts, told The Indian Express.

The weather department has also recommended action to move coastal hutment dwellers to safer places. 

What could be some relief for authorities is that Cyclone Nilofar is not expected to be as severe as Cyclone Hudhud, during which wind speeds reaching almost 200 km per hour. The cyclone had killed more than 45 people in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.