Cyclone Gonu heading for Persian Gulf

StormVista.com ^ | isawitonline

[isawitonline]

An extremely unusual occurrence looks to be taking place in parts of the Middle East, with a well-organized cyclone (hurricane) heading towards the Gulf of Oman. We looked back through the past 30years of reliable data, and could not find one single instance of a hurricane hitting that region. A couple of Tropical Storms steered well southwest and northeast of that region, but never directly impacted the Gulf of Oman. So this appears to be a historic event.

The storm is Cyclone Gonu… as they are referred to as cyclones in the Indian Ocean. It is currently very strong, with 160mph winds, making it a Cat 5 storm using the U.S. scale. It is forecasted to gradually weaken, thanks to drier air being pulled into it eventually from the Arabian peninsula. The forecasted track from Joint Typhoon Warning Center is a good consensus of forecast models… which takes it right into the southern parts of the Gulf of Oman. It looks to enter the southern edge of the Gulf as a Cat 2 storm.

This could be a very big deal to the oil industry... affecting busy shipping lanes, and possibly even affecting some production in the region. Truly an unprecedented event!

[Zakeet]

This could be a very big deal to the oil industry... affecting busy shipping lanes, and possibly even affecting some production in the region. Truly an unprecedented event!

Probably not. Most of the production is onshore; you always design for a 100 year storm for any offshore facility; even the worst cyclone cannot blow a VLCC around much.

On the other hand, this storm is a definite indication of global warming and the need to immediately adopt the Kyoto Accord.

[Orange1998]

This must be The Onion.

[isawitonline]

Production is a lesser impact I would believe than shipment...I think that’s where the impact may be greater.

(I posted that original article from a meteorologist who works in the energy industry).

[JRios1968]

[isawitonline]

Source: here

[Allegra]

C'mon, baby! Right through the Shatt-al-Arab Waterway and on up the Tigris!

Wheeeeeee!

[AngelesCrestHighway]

GONU?...is that a misprint?. Did they mean Gonad?

[isawitonline]

Excerpt from Bloomberg.com Tropical Cyclone Gonu strengthened into a Category Four storm with 150 mile-per-hour winds in the Arabian Sea south of Pakistan and is forecast to head for Oman, the U.S. Navy said. The cyclone is moving northwest at 11 miles per hour on a path Navy forecasters expect will take it toward the Gulf of Oman, an important shipping lane for tankers carrying oil from the Gulf.

[1COUNTER-MORTER-68]

bttt