Characteristic Features of Heavy Rainfall over Gujarat and Rajasthan States of India due to Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Phet over the Arabian Sea (31 May to 07 June 2010) - Monitoring and Prediction of Tropical Cyclones in the Indian Ocean and Climate Change - page 405

Characteristic Features of Heavy
Rainfall over Gujarat and Rajasthan
States of India due to Very Severe
Cyclonic Storm Phet over the
Arabian Sea (31 May to 07 June 2010)
Manorama Mohanty*, M. Mohapatra 1 and S.N.A. Jaafry 2
Meteorological Centre, India Meteorological
Department, Ahmedabad, India
1 India Meteorological Department, New Delhi
2 M.L. Sukhadia University (Rajasthan), India
*e-mail: [e-mail]
1. Introduction
The tropical cyclones (TC) sometimes form over Arabian Sea during onset
phase of southwest monsoon (end of May to beginning of June). Their northward
movement during this period contributes heavy rainfall to west coast, Gujarat
and Rajasthan states. In last 30 years (1981-2010), fifteen cyclonic storms
formed over Arabian Sea during southwest monsoon season (June-September).
Mooley and Shukla (1989) have found that low pressure system adds largely
to the activity of monsoon trough and hence the heavy rainfall. Heavy rainfall
brought by the cyclonic storms usually lead to flash floods and causes a severe
economic loss and life safety. Therefore it is important to improve the
understanding of the characteristic of rainfall during cyclone to prevent the
heavy rainfall disaster during this period.
A study has been carried out on the role of TC Phet formed over Arabian
Sea during 31 May to 7 June 2010 on the occurrence of heavy rainfall over
Gujarat and Rajasthan. The detailed life history of this TC is discussed in the
Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre (RSMC) report (RSMC, New
Delhi, 2011). A very severe cyclonic storm 'Phet' developed over the Arabian
Sea during the onset phase of southwest monsoon and crossed Oman coast on
4 th June 2010. It then continued to move northwards, emerged into northwest