Publié le 21 mai 2021
Tropical Cyclone Tauktae made landfall in the state of Gujarat, in western India, on 17 May 2021 - the strongest in the region for two decades.
Tropical Cyclone Tauktae formed in the equatorial Arabian Sea from a large area of low pressure, where conditions were favourable for further intensification — sea surface temperatures of up to 30 °C and low wind shear.
Over the following days, the cyclone turned northwards, parallel to the west coast of India, intensifying along the way. It reached Category 4 status at 03:00 UTC on 17 May, maximum one-minute sustained winds of 220 km/h, minimum central pressure of 950 millibars and a well-defined eye, which can be seen on Meteosat-8:
Meteosat-8 Enhanced Natural Colour RGB, 17 May 02:30-13:00 UTC
Wind speeds retrieved by scatterometer instrument on Metop satellites were above 30 m/s around the eye of the cyclone.