The much-feared tropical cyclone Nilofar almost completed its cycle on Friday without hitting the coastlines of Pakistan and India. It turned into ‘low pressure’ in the Arabian Sea which caused light rain in Karachi and some parts of lower Sindh late in the night.
The Met office said in its advisory that the cyclone further weakened into ‘low pressure area’ and was about 460km south-southwest of Karachi. “The low pressure area is almost stationary and likely to dissipate gradually over the water on Saturday. At present the estimated average sustained wind speed is 15-25 knots, gusting up to 35 knots,” it said.
The sea conditions along the coast will remain rough till Saturday. A senior Met official said the cyclone had turned into low depression much before it entered the country’s coastal limits.
“It’s almost over because the central part of the low pressure crossed our coastal belt, leaving its tail behind which cross within the next few hours (Friday night),” said Abdul Qayyum, director of cyclone warning centre at the Met office.
According to him, the cyclone almost completed its cycle and was too weak when it entered the coastline of India’s Rann of Kutch. It caused only rain but no damage there.
Meanwhile, the weather in Karachi turned pleasant after the rain, with cool breeze blowing from east to west. The minimum temperature was recorded at 26 degrees centigrade. According to the Met office, the maximum temperature is likely to hover between 33 and 35 degrees centigrade over the next 24 hours.
