Cyclone Remal bring heavy rains in part of West Bengal and Bangladesh
Science
6 min read
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning that a low depression in Bay Bengal has developed into a severe cyclonic storm Remal. The Remal cyclone is expected to have a wind speed of 100-120 km per hour, bringing heavy rain and thundershowers in parts of West Bengal and Bangladesh. Cyclone Remal is the first cyclone of the season to develop in the Bay of Bengal region. The name Remal has been given by Oman which means sand in Arabic.
Tropical cyclones are quite common in India during the months of May-June and October-November.
Landfall area of the Remal Cyclone
According to IMD, cyclone Remal is expected to make landfall on 26 May at midnight between the Sagar Islands of West Bengal and Khepupara of Bangladesh.
During the landfall, the IMD expects a strong wind and heavy rains around the surrounding area.
Landfall: Cyclones originate in the sea and move towards the land. When the center of the tropical storm cyclone comes over land, it is called landfall. Most deaths and destruction by a tropical cyclone are caused during landfall when the wind speed of the cyclone is at its peak, causing strong waves in the seas and heavy rains on land, causing widespread floods.
Rain and Thunderstorms in areas due to Cyclone Remal
According to the IMD, the cyclone will cause heavy rainfall in Kolkata, South and North 24 Parganas, Purba Medinipur and Howrah districts of West Bengal.
Light to moderate rainfall is expected in north and south Odisha, places in Mizoram, Tripura, South Manipur, Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland.
What is a cyclone?
The origin of the word cyclone lies in the Greek word ‘cyclos’, which means ‘coiling of a snake’. The word cyclone was coined by Henry Piddington who worked as a Rapporteur in Kolkata during British rule.
A cyclone is a large system of winds that circulates about a centre of low atmospheric pressure in a counterclockwise direction north of the Equator and in a clockwise direction to the south.
Cyclones are of two types Tropical and Temperate cyclones. Tropical cyclones originate in the area between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer.
Cyclones originating in temperate, high-altitude areas are called temperate cyclones. Cyclonic winds are found in all parts of the globe except the equatorial region
Worldwide terminology of Tropical Cyclone
Based on the area of the origin, tropical cyclones are given different names in different parts of the world. They are known as:
- Typhoons in the China Sea and Pacific Ocean;
- Hurricanes in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean around West Indies Islands;
- Tornados in the Guinea lands of West Africa and southern USA.;
- Willy-willies in north-western Australia and
- Tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean.
How are Cyclones named?
The name of the tropical cyclone is decided by the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre (RSMC) set up by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) jointly.
There are five such RSMCs in the world.
The naming of the cyclone originating in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea started in 2004. The names are suggested by the member countries -Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Pakistan, Thailand., Maldives and Oman.
The RSMC tropical cyclones, New Delhi, gives a tropical cyclone an identification name from the given list.
