.jpg) Cyclone Chapala at peak intensity to the southeast of the coast of Oman on 30 October | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 28 October 2015 |
| Dissipated | 4 November 2015 |
| Extremely severe cyclonic storm | |
| 3-minute sustained (IMD) | |
| Highest winds | 215 km/h (130 mph) |
| Lowest pressure | 940 hPa (mbar); 27.76 inHg |
| Category 4-equivalent tropical cyclone | |
| 1-minute sustained (SSHWS) | |
| Highest winds | 240 km/h (150 mph) |
| Lowest pressure | 926 hPa (mbar); 27.34 inHg |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 8 total |
| Damage | >$100 million (2015 USD) |
| Areas affected | Oman, Somalia, Yemen |
| IBTrACS | |
Part of the 2015 North Indian Ocean cyclone season | |
Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Chapala[nb 1] (/tʃəˈpɑːlə/) was a powerful tropical cyclone that caused moderate damage in Somalia and Yemen during November 2015. Chapala was the third named storm of the 2015 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. It developed as a depression on 28 October off western India, and strengthened a day later into a cyclonic storm. Chapala then rapidly intensified amid favorable conditions. On 30 October, the India Meteorological Department (IMD)[nb 2] estimated that Chapala attained peak three-minute sustained winds of 215 km/h (135 mph). The American-based Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)[nb 3] estimated sustained winds of 240 km/h (150 mph), making Chapala among the strongest cyclones on record in the Arabian Sea. After peak intensity, Chapala skirted the Yemeni island of Socotra on 1 November, becoming the first hurricane-force storm there since 1922. High winds and heavy rainfall resulted in an island-wide power outage, and severe damage was compounded by Cyclone Megh, which struck Yemen a week later.
While Chapala encountered less favorable conditions after passing Socotra, it maintained much of its intensity; upon entering the Gulf of Aden on 2 November, it became the strongest known cyclone in that body of water. Chapala brushed the northern coast of Somalia, killing tens of thousands of animals and wrecking 350 houses. Ahead of the cyclone's final landfall, widespread evacuations occurred across southeastern Yemen, including in areas controlled by al-Qaeda, amid the country's ongoing civil war. Early on 3 November, the storm made landfall near Mukalla, Yemen, as a very severe cyclonic storm and the strongest storm on record to strike the nation. Chapala weakened into a remnant low the next day overland. Several years' worth of heavy rainfall inundated coastal areas, damaging roads and hundreds of homes. Eight people died in Yemen, a low total credited to the evacuations, and another 65 were injured. After cyclones Chapala and Megh, several countries, non-government organizations, and agencies within the United Nations provided monetary and material assistance to Yemen. The country faced food and fuel shortages, and residual storm effects contributed to an outbreak of locusts and dengue fever, the latter of which killed seven people.
- ^ Tropical Cyclone Operational Plan for the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea: 2015 (PDF) (2015 ed.). World Meteorological Organization. pp. 11–12. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
- ^ Frequently Asked Questions on Tropical Cyclones (PDF) (Report). India Meteorological Department. p. 47. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
- ^ "Annual Tropical Cyclone Report" (PDF). Joint Typhoon Warning Center. 2016. p. 2. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
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