CYCLONE HAMOON (Syllabus: GS Paper 3 – Disaster Management)

Context: Recently, Cyclone 'Hamoon' intensified into a 'severe cyclonic storm' just a day after forming over the Bay of Bengal, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

• According to The Weather Channel, Cyclone Hamoon is currently in a deep depression over the west-central Bay of Bengal. It is expected to intensify during the next 12 hours and move northwards.
• A cyclonic disturbance is called a depression if the associated sustained maximum wind speed at surface level is 17-27 knots, wherein a knot is equal to 1.86 kilometres per hour.

Cyclone Hamoon

• About: It is a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal region.
• The system will move nearly north-eastward and cross the Bangladesh coast between Khepupara and Chattogram.
• Areas Affected: Paradip (Odisha), Digha (West Bengal), Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, south Assam, Meghalaya and Khepupara (Bangladesh).

Favourable Conditions for Tropical Cyclone Formation

• Large sea surface with temperature higher than 27°C.
• Presence of the Coriolis force is enough to create a cyclonic vortex.
• Small variations in the vertical wind speed.
• A pre-existing weak low-pressure area or low-level-cyclonic circulation.
• Upper divergence above the sea level system.