Cyclone Phet

Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Phet

Very severe cyclonic storm (IMD scale)
Category 4 (Saffir–Simpson scale)
Cyclone Phet on June 2, near peak intensity
Formed	May 31, 2010
Dissipated	June 7, 2010
Highest winds	3-minute sustained: 155 km/h (100 mph) 1-minute sustained: 230 km/h (145 mph)
Lowest pressure	964 hPa (mbar); 28.47 inHg
Fatalities	47 total
Damage	$861 million (2010 USD)
Areas affected	Oman, Pakistan, India
Part of the 2010 North Indian Ocean cyclone season

Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Phet was a powerful tropical cyclone that made landfall on Oman and Pakistan. The third named cyclone of the 2010 cyclone season, Phet developed in the Arabian Sea on May 31 to the west of India. With conducive environmental conditions, the storm intensified to reach peak sustained winds of 155 km/h (100 mph) on June 2, based on analysis by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). On the next day, Phet dropped heavy rainfall while moving across eastern Oman, with a peak of 603 mm (23.7 in) in Qurayyat. The rains flooded arid areas and collected into wadis – normally dry river beds. Thousands of homes were wrecked across Oman. There were 24 fatalities in the country, and damage was estimated at US$780 million.

After exiting Oman on June 4, Phet turned to the northeast and later to the east while continuing to weaken. The residual thunderstorms spread ahead of the circulation over Pakistan, producing 370 mm (15 in) of rainfall at Gwadar. In the city, the storm washed away houses and flooded the port, On June 6, Phet moved ashore the country near Karachi, a city of 16 million people, where several neighborhoods were flooded and power outages lasted over 12 hours. Across Pakistan, the storm killed 16 people and left $81 million in damage. Phet continued into western India, where it degenerated into a remnant low pressure area. In the country, storm rainfall killed five people, as well as dozens of animals.

Toward the end of May 2010, a surge in the monsoon produced widespread convection, or thunderstorms, off the southwest coast of India in the southeastern Arabian Sea. After a low-level circulation became evident on May 30, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) designated the system as a low pressure area. The low moved northwestward within an area of warm water temperatures of 30 to 32 °C (86 to 90 °F), moderate wind shear, and an upper-level environment conducive for tropical cyclogenesis, The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) first noted the system on May 30 as an area of potential development. The circulation became more defined within the building convection, which was amplified by outflow from an anticyclone over the northern Arabian Sea. At 03:00 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on May 31, the IMD designated the system as a depression about 1,000 km (620 mi) west-southwest of Mumbai, India, or about 1,260 km (785 mi) southeast of Muscat, Oman. At 18:00 UTC, the JTWC began issuing advisories on the storm, designating it as Tropical Cyclone 03A.