Cyclone Chapala is tearing up the Arabian Sea as it barrels towards the Arabian Peninsula and is poised to set a new record if it continues on it's current route.
The storm is currently a Category 4 tropical cyclone generating sustained winds of 150 miles per hour and producing waves of more than 22 feet high, reported The Sydney Morning Herald. These numbers already place the storm as the second-strongest ever recorded in the Arabian Sea.
However, meteorologists note the cyclone hasn't reached its peak intensity and is forecast to have maximum sustained winds of 165 mph over the next 24 to 36 hours.
If it reaches the forecasted peak wind speed, it would ascend to a Category 5 tropical cyclone, making it the strongest one ever recorded in the Arabian Sea, according to Mashable.
#Chapala expected to strengthen w/ winds equal to a Cat 5 hurricane by Sat: https://t.co/5yzmSysszn pic.twitter.com/HNagBXNcda
— AccuWeather.com (@breakingweather) October 30, 2015
Regardless of its strength, the cyclone is expected to move west for about 48 to 72 hours before turning northwest and making landfall on the northeast coast of Yemen, potentially dumping a year's worth of rain or more in just a day or two in parts of Yemen and Oman.
This rainfall will bring unknown amounts of trouble to a region that typically only sees four inches of rain a year,
There have only been two Category 4-equivalent Arabian Sea cyclones on record: Gonu in 2007 and Phet in 2010, both of which weakened before making landfall in the northern Oman capital of Muscat, according to USA Today.
One hundred people died in Oman, Iran and the United Arab Emirates when Gonu hit the region, while 24 people died when Phet hit Oman. The storms also impacted the regions economically: Gonu caused $5 billion in damages, while Phet led to $1 billion in damages.
