Hurricane Guillermo is moving through the Pacific towards Hawaii. It may reach the 50th state by the middle of next week.
A slow-moving monsoon depression unleashed lethal amounts of rain in South Asia earlier this week prior to forming into a tropical cyclone over the
northern Bay of Bengal Wednesday. The cyclonic storm named Komen reached tropical storm strength and moved inland Thursday. Since then, it has been downgraded to a depression over Bangladesh, however it still has the potential to further drench regions that are already reeling from flooding and mudslides. Gusty winds and rough seas are adding to the dangers, which in all have claimed at least 39 lives in two countries. For about a week, heavy rainfall has been pounding southern parts of Bangladesh and parts of neighboring Myanmar thanks to a weak area of low pressure – designated a “depression” by meteorologists in that region – that formed over Bangladesh in association with the seasonal monsoon.
Before becoming a named tropical cyclone, Komen was an unnamed monsoon depression that lingered near the coast of Bangladesh for days. The map shows rainfall reported over the 168-hour period ending midnight Thursday evening, July 30, Bangladesh Time.
Even for a region where average July rainfall exceeds 600 millimeters (2 feet), the rains have been exceptional. The coastal city of Chittagong reported more than 800 millimeters (32 inches) of rain in just a three-day period July 24 through 26.
Much of southeastern Bangladesh has seen repeated heavy rainfall on a daily basis over the past week. The results have been deadly. Five people died in a landslide in Cox’s Bazar Monday according to the Bangladesh-based Daily Star. Four others were pulled from the mud alive.
