Tropical Cyclone Chapala has tracked west from its position in the Arabian Sea, potentially taking it on a path towards eastern Yemen's sea port of Mukalla, a report said.

The storm, which is expected to make a landfall on Monday, will bring torrential rain, thunderstorms, strong winds and damaging storm surges, the report in Aljazeera website said.

While Chapala weakened on Saturday night after reaching Category 4 status a day earlier, the cyclone was still packing sustained winds of about 200 km/h, according to the US navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC).

The JTWC reported that Chapala was expected to continue weakening as it closed in on the coast over the next 36 hours, but it was still on track to make landfall as a major storm  with sustained winds of about 130 km/h on Monday evening.

"As the cyclone moves ashore, Chapala will slam into steep mountains near the coast, boosting its potential to dump several years' worth of rain in just a day or two," said meteorologist Jeff Masters.

Earlier reports said the high-impact tropical cyclone would become a super cyclonic storm, threatening Yemen and Oman early next week.

Weather Underground meteorologist Jeff Masters wrote on Saturday night  that "Chapala's southward track will make it only the second tropical cyclone recorded near the mouth of the Gulf of Aden".