Cyclone Shaheen to make landfall shortly; 30 km away from Musannah

Muscat: Three people, including a child died, and two went missing in Oman on Sunday as the cyclone Shaheen battered the sultanate with heavy rain and strong winds.

The centre of the cyclone is 30 km away from al Musannah and 65 km from Suwaiq and is likely to make landfall between 7 pm and 9 pm, latest statement from the Oman’s Met office said.

Abdullah bin Abdul Rashid Al Balushi, a meteorologist at the Civil Aviation Authority, said that the eye of the cyclone will penetrate land during the next few hours, accompanied by strong winds and heavy rain, especially in areas where the eye of the cyclone directly enters.

“At present, the cyclone is moving parallel to the North al Batinah governorate. It is expected that it will move into the governorate shortly,” he added.

Oman’s wadis are overflowing and streets in several governorates, including Muscat, are inundated as Shaheen dumped rain ahead of its landfall expected between Saham and al Musannah region.

Oman Observer photographer based in the wilayat of Barka said the whole region started experiencing torrential rains and strong winds.

Heavy rain ranging between 200 and 500 millimeters with severe flash floods reported from across governorates of North al Batinah, South al Batinah, Muscat, al Dhahira, al Buraimi , al Dakhliya and the coastal areas of South al Sharqiya.

The latest satellite images and weather charts analysis at the National Multi Hazards Early Warning Center indicated that the tropical cyclone Shaheed is located at longitude 58.3 °E and latitude 24.1°N. The tropical cyclone continues to move towards the coastal areas of Oman Sea with estimated surface wind speed around the center 65 to 75 knots (120 – 139 km/hr).

The cyclone is expected to continue in its movement toward the coast of North Al Batinah.

The influences may extend to the Governorates of Musandam, North and South AL Sharqiya with isolated rain (30-70) millimeters and heavy to moderate winds (15-25 knots), said the Met report.

Sea condition is expected to be very rough over the coastal areas between South Al-Shargiya to Musandam Governorates with maximum wave height ranging between 8 and 12 meters. In addition storm surge might cause seawater inundation of low-level coastal areas. The sea state will be moderate to rough along the rest of Omani coasts with maximum wave height between 2 and 3 meters.