Cyclone Tauktae

  • Cyclone Tauktae (pronounced Tau-Te), classified as a very severe cyclonic storm (VSCS) and developed in the Arabian Sea, has wreaked havoc across India. 
  • Cyclone Tauktae made landfall in Gujarat.
  • It has left a trail of destruction as it swept through the coastal states of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra.
  • The cyclone is a tropical cyclone, named by Myanmar. 
  • It means 'gecko', a highly vocal lizard, in the Burmese language.

TROPICAL CYCLONES

  • A tropical cyclone is an intense circular storm that originates over warm tropical oceans and is characterized by low atmospheric pressure, high winds, and heavy rain.
  • A characteristic feature of tropical cyclones is the eye, a central region of clear skies, warm temperatures, and low atmospheric pressure.
  • Storms of this type are called hurricanes in the North Atlantic and eastern Pacific and typhoons in South-East Asia and China. They are called tropical cyclones in the southwest Pacific and Indian Ocean region and Willy-willies in north-western Australia.
  • Storms rotate counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
  • Typically, tropical cyclones in the North Indian Ocean region (Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea) develop during the pre-monsoon (April to June) and post-monsoon (October to December) periods.
  • Tauktae is the fourth cyclone in consecutive years to have developed in the Arabian Sea, that too in the pre-monsoon period (April to June).
  • After Cyclone Mekanu in 2018, which struck Oman, Cyclone Vayu in 2019 struck Gujarat, followed by Cyclone Nisarga in 2020 that struck Maharashtra.
  • All these cyclones since 2018 have been categorised either ‘Severe Cyclone’ or above.
RAPID INTENSIFICATION OF TAUKTAE
  • Any tropical cyclone requires energy to stay alive. 
  • This energy is typically obtained from warm water and humid air over the tropical ocean. 
  • Currently, sea water up to depths of 50 metres has been very warm, supplying ample energy to enable the intensification of Cyclone Tauktae.
  • The more the heat released through condensation of water vapour, the steeper the drop in pressure. 
  • A low-pressure system undergoes multiple stages of intensification to form cyclones.

NAMING OF CYCLONES

  • Cyclones that form in every ocean basin across the world are named by the regional specialised meteorological centres (RSMCs) and Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs). 
  • There are six RSMCs in the world, including the India Meteorological Department (IMD), and five TCWCs.
  • As an RSMC, the IMD names the cyclones developing over the north Indian Ocean, including the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, after following a standard procedure. 
  • The IMD is also mandated to issue advisories to 12 other countries in the region on the development of cyclones and storms.
  • It is an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
  • 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. 
  • After each country sent in suggestions, the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones (PTC) finalised the list.
  • A formula was agreed upon in 2004.
  • The WMO/ESCAP expanded to include five more countries in 2018 — Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
  • IMD releases a list of 169 names for cyclones.
  • The list is provided by these countries — 13 suggestions from each of the 13 countries. 

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