Tropical Cyclone Giri strengthened into a Category 1 Storm over the northeast Indian Ocean as it approached the west coast of Myanmar, the U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center said.
Giri’s winds strengthened to 130 kilometers (81 miles) per hour from 65 kph yesterday, the center said its latest advisory. A Category 1 Storm is the lowest on the five-step Saffir Simpson scale and capable of “very dangerous winds,” according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
The cyclone was located about 220 kilometers south- southwest of Sittwe at 12:30 a.m. local time and was moving north-northeast at 7.4 kph. Giri is expected to increase in strength and hit the coast near Sittwe later today, according to the center. It may make landfall with winds of 148 kph.
In the Indian Ocean, the Navy uses the term tropical cyclones to describe all large circular weather systems built around an area of low pressure. It’s the fourth storm of the season in the Bay of Bengal.
To contact the reporter for this story: Stuart Biggs in Tokyo at ssbiggs3@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net; Amit Prakash at aprakash@bloomberg.net.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-22/cyclone-giri-strengthens-over-indian-ocean-on-approach-to-myanmar-coast.html
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