Tropical Storm Biparjoy Intensified into Category 1 Cyclone

The 'Biparjoy' cyclone, which formed in the Arabian Sea as the first storm of the year, has rapidly intensified and is now a powerful category 1 cyclone.

Its presence is likely to cause a "mild" start to the monsoon season in Kerala, with "weak" progress predicted outside of the southern peninsular region.

"Cyclonic storm Biparjoy (pronounced as "Biporjoy") over east-central and adjoining southeast Arabian Sea moved nearly northwards with a speed of 2 kmph during the last six hours, intensified into a severe cyclonic storm and lay centred over the same region at 0530 hours, about 890 km west-southwest of Goa, 1,000 km southwest of Mumbai, 1,070 km south-southwest of Porbandar and 1,370 km south of Karachi," the India Meteorological Department said.

"Cyclone Biparjoy intensified by 40 knots (74 kmph) since Tuesday morning," according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC), the US Department of Defense's agency responsible for issuing tropical cyclone warnings for the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

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