CYCLONE MANDOUS - GEOGRAPHY
News: Cyclone
‘Mandous’ brewing over the Bay likely to impact several parts of Tamil Nadu
What's in the news?
● With
the cyclonic storm ‘Mandous’, brewing over the Bay of Bengal, likely to hit
north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts around December 9 morning, intense rain
may lash many districts of Tamil Nadu between December 7 and December 9.
● The
weather system may produce extremely heavy rain in a few districts on December
8.
Key takeaways:
● ‘Mandous’
is likely to cross between Puducherry and Sriharikota during early hours of
Saturday. Weather models have predicted that it may cross the coast as a
cyclonic storm.
● Places
along the coast may experience squally winds with a speed of 65-75 kmph and
going up to 85 kmph during landfall, said S. Balachandran, Additional Director
General of Meteorology, Chennai.
● The
Name 'Mandous' was given by UAE.
Cyclones:
● Cyclones
are a type of low-pressure environment
with rapid inward air circulation.
● In
the Northern Hemisphere, air flows counter clockwise, while in the Southern
Hemisphere, it circulates clockwise.
Tropical Cyclones:
● The
term ‘Tropical Cyclone’ is used by the World Meteorological Organization to
describe weather systems with winds greater than ‘Gale Force’ (minimum of 63 km
per hour).
● Tropical
cyclones are formed in the region between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer.
● They
are large-scale weather systems that form over tropical or subtropical oceans
and coalesce into surface wind circulation.
● Tropical
cyclones are one of the world’s most
destructive natural disasters.
Favorable Conditions for the Formation of Tropical
Cyclone:
● A
large area of water surface with a temperature
above 27° C.
● The
Coriolis force is strong enough to
form a cyclonic vortex.
● Variations
in the vertical wind speed are minor.
● A
weak low-pressure area or low-level
cyclonic circulation already exists.
● Above
the sea level system, there should be a higher
divergence.
Local Names:
● North
Atlantic (including Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico): Hurricanes
● Eastern
and Central North Pacific: Hurricanes
● Western
Northern Pacific: Typhoons
● Arabian
Sea/Northern Indian Ocean: Tropical
Cyclones
● South
Indian Ocean: Tropical
Cyclones/Willy-Willy for southwest Australia
● Coral
Sea/South Pacific: Tropical Cyclone.
Naming of Tropical Cyclones:
● Cyclones
that form in every ocean basin across the world are named by the regional
specialized meteorological centers (RSMCs) and Tropical Cyclone Warning Centers
(TCWCs).
● There
are six RSMCs in the world, including the India Meteorological Department
(IMD), and five TCWCs.
How are the cyclones named?
● In
2000, a group of nations called WMO/ESCAP
(World Meteorological Organisation/United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific), which comprised Bangladesh, India,
the Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand, decided to start
naming cyclones in the region.
● The
WMO/ESCAP expanded to include five more countries in 2018 - Iran, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.