What is Cyclone Remal?

 

A new low-pressure area has been found over the southwest and adjacent west central Bay of Bengal as of May 22, 2024, early in the morning. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) swears this is true. From what the IMD can tell, this storm will move northeast and is likely to turn into a depression by May 24. After that, the storm is likely to get stronger as it stays on the same path. By the evening of May 25, it will be in the northeast and adjacent northwest Bay of Bengal.

Conditions Favouring Intensification

The United States Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Centre (JTWC) said that the weather conditions are good for the storm to get stronger. Warm sea surfaces (28 to 29 degrees Celsius) and low vertical wind shear are two important factors. These conditions give the system the thermal energy it needs and keep the atmosphere steady, which is good for its survival and growth.

Potential Formation of Cyclone Remal

Based on predictions on the US Global Forecasting System (GFS) that Cyclone Remal could form in the northwest Bay of Bengal by the morning of May 26. Additionally, The Weather Channel (TWC) has admitted that a cyclonic storm is likely to happen, even though it says the chances of it becoming a severe cyclonic storm are low.

Impact Predictions

IMD says that on May 25 and 26, some districts in West Bengal and Odisha will get light to moderate rain, and other districts will get heavy rain. In northeast India, places like Mizoram, Tripura, and south Manipur are expected to have similar weather. Also, from May 26–28, TWC predicts heavy rain—possibly more than 200 millimeters—in states like Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura.

Implications and Preparedness

Local governments and people who live in places that could be affected are being told to keep a close eye on things and get ready for bad weather. This shows how important it is to have accurate weather predictions and plan ahead for disasters, especially in places that are prone to cyclones.

Facts about the Bay of Bengal

• The Bay of Bengal is the biggest bay in the world, covering more than 2,172,000 square kilometres.
• This part of the Indian Ocean is in the northeast. India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka are all on its edges.
• The “Whistlers,” which are low-frequency radio waves caused by lightning, are a unique event that happens in the bay.
• It is home to the very rare Olive Ridley turtle and the Sundarbans, which is the world’s biggest mangrove forest.
• The Bengal Fan, the world’s biggest submarine fan, is in the Bay of Bengal.
• The area also gets cyclones often, with a special cyclone season from April to November.

Cyclone Biparjoy: What is a cyclone and what are its types

 

The National Disaster Management Authority classifies cyclones broadly into two categories: extratropical cyclones and tropical cyclones. Here is what you need to know about them.

Developed in the Arabian Sea, cyclone Biparjoy, earlier expected to move towards the Pakistan coastline, has now changed its path and is heading towards the northern Gujarat coast with landfall expected on June 15.

According to India’s Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre (RSMC), the cyclone might cause storm surges of 2-3 metres in height, destruction of thatched houses, damage to pucca houses and roads, floodings, widespread damage to standing crops, plantations and orchards, and disruption of railways, powerlines and signalling systems in the northern and western coastal districts of Gujarat.

Cyclone Biparjoy, which is expected to generate wind speeds of 125-135 kmph with gusts reaching up to 150 kmph by the time it reaches land, is a tropical cyclone. The National Disaster Management Authority classifies cyclones broadly into two categories: extratropical cyclones and tropical cyclones. Here is what you need to know about them.

First, what is a cyclone?

A cyclone is a large-scale system of air that rotates around the centre of a low-pressure area. It is usually accompanied by violent storms and bad weather. As per NDMA, a cyclone is characterised by inward spiralling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.

What are extratropical cyclones?

Also known as mid-latitude cyclones, extratropical cyclones are those which occur outside of the tropic. They have “cold air at their core, and derive their energy from the release of potential energy when cold and warm air masses interact”, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). It added that such cyclones always have one or more fronts — a weather system that is the boundary between two different types of air masses. One is represented by warm air and the other by cold air — connected to them, and can occur over land or ocean.

What are tropical cyclones?

Tropical cyclones are those which develop in the regions between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer. They are the most devastating storms on Earth. Such cyclones develop when “thunderstorm activity starts building close to the centre of circulation, and the strongest winds and rain are no longer in a band far from the centre,” NOAA noted. The core of the storm turns warm, and the cyclone gets most of its energy from the “latent heat” released when water vapour that has evaporated from warm ocean waters condenses into liquid water, the agency added. Moreover, warm fronts or cold fronts aren’t associated with tropical cyclones.

Tropical cyclones have different names depending on their location and strength. For instance, they are known as hurricanes in the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the North Atlantic Ocean and the eastern and central North Pacific Ocean. In the western North Pacific, they are called typhoons.

Source: Indian Express, 13/06/23