3-Jan-2018: 'Bomb cyclone' hits the east coast of United States
A massive winter storm called a “bomb cyclone” is hammering the eastern US, from northern Florida all the way to New England, bringing snow, ice, flooding, and strong winds.
The term is used by meteorologists to indicate a mid-latitude cyclone that intensifies rapidly. A bomb cyclone happens when atmospheric pressure in the middle of the storm drops at least 24 millibars over 24 hours, quickly increasing in intensity. The lower the pressure, the stronger the storm.
This sort of winter hurricane formed because of the serendipitous convergence of several factors, including a blast of freezing air from the North Pole that, right off the southeast coast of the US, has come into contact with warm ocean waters carried by the Gulf Stream. That strong temperature contrast is what sparks and intensifies the storm so rapidly.
30-Nov-2017: Deep depression in Bay of Bengal intensifies into a cyclonic storm
The deep depression which had formed in the Bay of Bengal near Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu, bordering Kerala, has now intensified into a cyclonic storm named Ockhi. The name Ockhi was given by Bangladesh which in Bengali means ‘eye’.
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) started the tropical cyclone naming system in 2000. Tropical cyclones are named to provide ease of communication between forecasters and the general public regarding forecasts, watches, and warnings.
The Cyclones worldwide are named by 9 regions — North Atlantic, Eastern North Pacific, Central North Pacific, Western North Pacific, North Indian Ocean, South West Indian Ocean, Australian, Southern Pacific, South Atlantic. Cyclones in the North Indian Ocean basin are named by the Indian Meteorological Department and the first tropical cyclone was named in 2004 as Onil (given by Bangladesh).
Eight north Indian Ocean countries — Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand, gave eight names each which was combined into a list of 64 names. One name from each country is picked in an order to name the cyclones.
The previous storm Mora that caused severe flooding across Northeast India in May was named by Thailand. Mora is the name of one of the healing stones and also means star of the sea. The next cyclone will be named Sagar — a name given by India.