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In News
- Recently, Cyclone Sitrang made landfall in southern Bangladesh taking the death toll to 35 and millions other remained without power in the country.
- It is the first tropical cyclone of the post-monsoon season of 2022. It also helped Delhi record its cleanest post-Diwali air since 2015.
About Cyclone Sitrang
- The name Sitrang has been given by Thailand.
- The last October cyclone in the Bay of Bengal was Titli in 2018.
- It developed in the Bay of Bengal before turning north toward Bangladesh’s vast coast. The maximum wind speed was 88 kmh.
- A red alert indicating heavy to very heavy and extremely heavy rainfall under the influence of cyclone was issued for Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura.
- The IMD is one of the world’s six RMSCs mandated to provide cyclone advisories and alerts to 13 member countries Bangladesh, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
- Affected regions:
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Odisha, West Bengal and Bangladesh, particularly the coastal districts.
Why storms in October?
- The months of October-November and May-June see storms of severe intensity develop in the North Indian Ocean comprising the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.
- In the past 131 years, October saw 61 storms develop in the Bay of Bengal.
- The east coast, notably Odisha, has faced many of its severest storms in October, including the Super Cyclone of 1999.
- After the withdrawal of the Southwest monsoon, there is a rise in ocean heating, this leads to rise in sea surface temperature over the Bay of Bengal.
- The atmospheric moisture availability over the ocean region, too, is higher.
- So, when remnant systems from the South China Sea reach the Bay of Bengal, they get conducive conditions, aiding the formation and intensification of cyclones in October.
- In some years, ocean-atmospheric factors hinder this phenomenon.
- In 2020, weak La Nina conditions along the equatorial Pacific Ocean prevented a cyclonic formation near India’s coasts.
Cyclones in the Arabian Sea
- In comparison with the Bay of Bengal, only 32 storms have developed in the Arabian Sea in October since 1891.
- Climatologically too, the IMD states that of the five storms formed in the North Indian Ocean in a calendar year, four are in the Bay of Bengal and one in Arabian Sea.
What is a Cyclone?
Types of Cyclones
Formation of Cyclones
Conditions favouring the formation and intensification of tropical cyclone storms
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Source: TH
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