Overall Green alert Tropical Cyclone for MAHA-19
in India

Event summary

Tropical Cyclone MAHA-19 can have a low humanitarian impact based on the maximum sustained wind speed, exposed population and vulnerability.

GDACS ID TC 1000625
Name MAHA-19
From - To 30 Oct - 06 Nov
Exposed countries India
Exposed population No people in Category 1 or higher
Maximum wind speed 194 km/h Category 3
Maximum storm surge 0.4 m (02 Nov 00:00 UTC)
Vulnerability High (India)

GDACS Score

For more info on GDACS alert score click here.
Wind Storm surge Rainfall GDACS score
GDACS JTWC 56 km/h 0.6 m n.a. 0.5
Single TC: maximum expected impact (wind, storm surge, rainfall)
HWRF 198 km/h 0.4 m 801 mm 0.5
GFS 176 km/h 0.4 m 513 mm 0.5
ECMWF 169 km/h 0.4 m 850 mm 0.5
Maximum expected impact (wind, storm surge and rainfall) using different data sources.
Virtual OSOCC
Meteo assessment
Satellite products
Analytical products
Arabian Sea - Tropical Cyclone MAHA and KYARR (ECHO 31 Oct 2019)Thu, 31 Oct 2019 11:01

  • Tropical Cyclone MAHA formed over the Laccadive Sea, west of Sri Lanka on 30 October, moving north-west over the Arabian Sea along the coast of Kerala (southern India). On 31 October at 0.00 UTC, its centre was approximately 280 km west of Kozhikode City (northern Kerala), with maximum sustained winds of 95 km/h.
  • Heavy rain is affecting the northern Maldives and southern Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep Archipelago.
  • MAHA will continue north-west along the Kerala, Karnataka and Goa coast, with maximum sustained winds up to 110 km/h before strengthening as it turns west towards central Oman on 4-5 November.
  • Heavy rain, strong winds and thunderstorms are forecast for western Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, and Maharashtra. An orange alert has been issued for heavy rain and thunderstorms for coastal areas.
  • Tropical Cyclone KYARR also continued on its south-west trajectory off the coast of central Oman. It is forecast to approach northern Somalia on 3-4 November, with maximum sustained winds up to 65 km/h. 
India - Tropical Cyclone MAHA (ECHO 04 Nov 2019)Mon, 04 Nov 2019 11:04

  • According to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) cyclone MAHA intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm.
  • At 0.00 UTC on 4 November, the centre of the storm was approximately 845 km west of Mumbai City (Maharashtra State), with maximum sustained winds of 185 km/h. 
  • MAHA will continue moving north-west and is forecasted to turn in eastern direction on 5 November.
  • It is likely to move towards Gujarat coast between Diu and Porbandar as a severe cyclonic storm with a maximum sustained wind speed of 100-110 Kmph around midnight of 6 November and early hours of 7 November.
India - Tropical Cyclone MAHA update (ECHO 05 Nov 2019)Tue, 05 Nov 2019 11:01

  • Tropical Cyclone MAHA continued moving north-west over the Arabian Sea, far off the coast of west India. On 5 November at 0:00 UTC, its centre was located approximately 760 km west of  Gujarat, and approximately 970 km west of Mumbai, with maximum sustained winds of 185 km/h.
  • MAHA is forecast to continue moving east toward Gujarat, weakening to a tropical depression.
  • The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for heavy rain and strong winds over this area for 6-7 November.
India - Tropical Cyclone MAHA update (ECHO 06 Nov 2019)Wed, 06 Nov 2019 10:59

  • Tropical Cyclone MAHA is moving east towards the western coast of northern India. On 6 November at 0.00 UTC, its centre was approximately 680 km south-west of Surat (Gujarat State) and approximately 690 km west of Mumbai (Maharashtra State), with maximum sustained winds of 111 km/h.
  • MAHA will weaken as it moves east, approaching the coast of Gujarat on 7 November as a tropical depression.
  • National response actors are providing rescue and relief operations in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Maha.
  • Heavy to very heavy rain and strong winds are forecast over coastal Saurashtra Peninsula and South Gujarat and light to moderate rain will be widespread in Gujarat over 6-7 November. 
Detailed event map. European Union, 2024. Map produced by EC-JRC.
The boundaries and the names shown on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the European Union.

Updates on volcanic activity (Smithsonian)

Latest media headlines

State’s first cyclone shelter at Mararikulam 11/7/2019 7:14:00 PM.

Kerala was relatively safe from cyclones until recently. However, in November 2017 Cyclone Ockhi wreaked havoc in the southern districts of the State and claimed a number of lives. In the following years, the State was again threatened by c
...(more)
Spate of Cyclones in the North Indian Ocean 11/7/2019 5:06:00 PM.

Climatologically quiet, the North Indian Ocean basin has seen an unusually high number of cyclones this year. Tropical Cyclone Maha has taken a sharp turn over the Arabian Sea and is now poised to brush India’s west coast on November 7, 201
...(more)
Cyclones in Arabian Sea: From Cyclone Maha to Fani, a look at severe c.. 11/7/2019 11:10:00 AM.

The oceanic basin to the west of the Indian continent, which is generally not subjected to intense cyclonic activity, this year became a hotspot of sorts with a strong Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) contributi
...(more)
Votes (0) 11/7/2019 4:23:00 AM.

The sea will be slight to moderate in the Arabian Gulf and in the Oman Sea. 4-day rain forecast for parts of UAE. Residents living in the northern emirates and coastal areas are advised to take precaution and brace for intermittent and torr
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Estimated casualties (PAGER)

USGS estimates the number of casualties for each earthquake for the Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response (PAGER) product.
The graph shows the current fatalities estimate.

Exposed population

Data, images, links, services and documents

For this events, GDACS has links to information from the following sources: EC-JRC (38), (2), DesInventar (4), WMO (1), INFORM (2),