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The cyclone and its hurricane force winds made landfall as a category 3 storms near Yeman's 5th largest city.

Perhaps the most unusual weather event in the world in November this year was tropical cyclone Chapala in the Arabian Sea crossing the southern coast of Yemen.

The cyclone and its hurricane force winds made landfall as a category 3 storms near Yeman's 5th largest city, Mukalla with a population of close to 300,000 people. Limited data is available from this war torn part of the world, but it was undoubtedly the most intense cyclone ever to hit the Arabian peninsula coast.

The pressure of "Chapala" was 922 mb at one stage, close to the lowest pressure of cyclone "Gonu" in the Arabian Sea in 2007 but that cyclone just skirted the SE coast on its way to Iran. Water submerged cars on city streets, many homes especially on the seafront were destroyed and about many thousands of people moved to higher ground. The most remarkable feature of the storm was the rainfall it caused. It was estimated that it produced rainfall amounts over 600 mm in the vicinity of its coastal crossing. This area is extreme desert and among the driest places on Earth and the amount of 600 mm in 48 hours represents more than 7 years on average rainfall! In some areas, this amount meant that over seven years' worth of rain fell in less than 48 hours.

Estimated precipitation amounts from NASA satellites indicate that 250 mm of rain fell over parts of central Yemen in a 24-hour period, where there is no surface weather stations but the area averages only less than 50 mm of rain per year. A few days after cyclone "Chapala", another cyclone, "Megh" moved into the Gulf of Aden. Such occurrences are unprecedented.

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