Cyclone Biparjoy, the first storm brewing in the Arabian Sea this year, has rapidly intensified into a severe cyclonic storm, with meteorologists predicting a "mild" monsoon onset over Kerala and "weak" progress beyond southern peninsular under its influence.
"Cyclonic storm Biparjoy (pronounced as "Biporjoy") over east-central and adjoining southeast Arabian Sea moved nearly northwards with a speed of 2 kmph during the last six hours, intensified into a severe cyclonic storm and lay centred over the same region at 0530 hours, about 890 km west-southwest of Goa, 1,000 km southwest of Mumbai, 1,070 km south-southwest of Porbandar and 1,370 km south of Karachi," the IMD said in an update around 8:30 am.
Forecasting agencies said the storm has been undergoing "rapid intensification".