{"id":35299,"date":"2023-05-10T01:00:07","date_gmt":"2023-05-09T19:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=35299"},"modified":"2025-04-20T23:34:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T18:04:09","slug":"tropical-cyclone-formation-and-characteristics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/tropical-cyclone-formation-and-characteristics\/","title":{"rendered":"Tropical Cyclone: Formation and Characteristics"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>How a Tropical Cyclone is Formed?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Characteristics of a Tropical Cyclone<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>How are Cyclones Classified?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>How are Tropical Cyclones Named?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>About WMO\/ESCAP Panel<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>News Summary<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>About IMD<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>A cyclone, which is most likely to swerve away from the Indian coast, is all set to develop over the southeast Bay of Bengal, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.<\/li>\n<li>Once intensified, it is to be identified as \u2018<strong>Cyclone Mocha<\/strong>\u2019 (pronounced as Mokha), a name suggested by <strong>Yemen<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How a Tropical Cyclone is Formed?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi-test.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/media\/content\/ckeditor\/2023\/05\/13\/image-20230513152928-1.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Image Caption: Tropical Cyclone<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tropical Cyclone is a <strong>weather phenomenon<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>A tropical cyclone is formed <strong><u>only over warm ocean waters near the equator<\/u><\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Warm, moist air rises up and away from the ocean surface, creating an area of low pressure.<\/li>\n<li>It causes the air from surrounding areas with higher pressure to move towards the low-pressure area.<\/li>\n<li>This leads to warming up of air and causes it to rise above.<\/li>\n<li>As the air rises &amp; cools, the water in the air forms clouds.<\/li>\n<li>This complete system of clouds and wind spins &amp; grows, along with the ocean\u2019s heat.<\/li>\n<li>As the wind rotation speed increases, an eye gets formed in the middle.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Characteristics of a Tropical Cyclone<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong><u>centre of a cyclone is very calm and clear with very low air pressure<\/u><\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The average speed is <strong>120 kmph<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>They have closed <strong>isobars<\/strong> which leads to greater velocity.\n<ul>\n<li>Isobars are imaginary lines on a weather map that connect <u>locations with equal atmospheric pressure<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>They develop over oceans and sea only.<\/li>\n<li>They <u>move from east to west<\/u> under the influence of trade winds.<\/li>\n<li>They are seasonal in nature.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How are Cyclones Classified?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Cyclones are classified <strong>on the basis of wind speed<\/strong> by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD):\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Depression: <\/strong>Wind speeds of between 31\u201349 km\/h<\/li>\n<li><strong>Deep Depression: <\/strong>Between 50-61 km\/h<\/li>\n<li><strong>Cyclonic Storm: <\/strong>Between 62\u201388 km\/h<\/li>\n<li><strong>Severe Cyclonic Storm: <\/strong>Between 89-117 Km\/h<\/li>\n<li><strong>Very Severe Cyclonic Storm: <\/strong>Between 118-166 Km\/h<\/li>\n<li><strong>Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm<\/strong>: Between 166-221 Km\/h<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Super Cyclonic Storm<\/strong>: Above 222 Km\/h<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How are Tropical Cyclones Named?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>There are five tropical cyclone regional bodies in the world:\n<ul>\n<li>ESCAP\/WMO Typhoon Committee,<\/li>\n<li>WMO\/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones,<\/li>\n<li>RA I Tropical Cyclone Committee,<\/li>\n<li>RA IV Hurricane Committee,<\/li>\n<li>RA V Tropical Cyclone Committee.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>WMO\/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones is responsible for naming of cyclones in the Indian Ocean<\/u><\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>About WMO\/ESCAP Panel<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>It is an inter-governmental regional body jointly established by the <u>World Meteorological Organization (WMO)<\/u> and the <u>United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia-Pacific (ESCAP)<\/u> in 1972.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Objective:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>To <u>promote measures to improve tropical cyclone warning systems in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea region<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>It comprises of thirteen countries in the region \u2013 <strong>Bangladesh<\/strong>, <strong>India<\/strong>, <strong>Iran<\/strong>, <strong>Maldives<\/strong>, <strong>Myanmar<\/strong>, <strong>Oman<\/strong>, <strong>Pakistan<\/strong>, <strong>Qatar<\/strong>, <strong>Saudi Arabia<\/strong>, <strong>Sri<\/strong> <strong>Lanka<\/strong>, <strong>Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Yemen<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>They contribute to a set of names which are assigned sequentially whenever a cyclonic storm develops.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>News Summary<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Indian Meteorological Department has warned that Cyclone Mocha forming over the Bay of Bengal may intensify into a very severe storm.<\/li>\n<li>According to the IMD, a low-pressure area has already formed over the southeast Bay of Bengal and adjoining South Andaman Sea.<\/li>\n<li>This will be the first cyclonic storm of the year.\n<ul>\n<li>India has dual cyclone seasons \u2013 pre-monsoon (April-June) and post-monsoon (October-December).<\/li>\n<li>Of these, the most cyclone-prone months are May and November.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Last May, around the same time, severe cyclone <strong>Asani<\/strong> came close to the Andhra Pradesh coast causing significant rainfall and gusting winds.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00b7 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><strong>About IMD<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>India Meteorological Department was established in <strong>1875<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It is the National Meteorological Service of the country and the principal government agency in all matters relating to meteorology and allied subjects.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Concerned Ministry: <\/strong>Ministry of Earth Sciences<\/li>\n<li><strong>Headquarters: <\/strong>New Delhi<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Functions of IMD:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>To take meteorological observations and to provide current and forecast meteorological information for optimum operation of weather-sensitive activities like agriculture, irrigation, shipping, aviation, offshore oil explorations, etc.<\/li>\n<li>To warn against severe weather phenomena like tropical cyclones, norwesters, dust storms, heavy rains and snow, cold and heat waves, etc., which cause destruction of life and property.<\/li>\n<li>To provide meteorological statistics required for agriculture, water resource management, industries, oil exploration and other nation-building activities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1) What is the basic difference between cyclone and anti-cyclone?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>A cyclone is a low pressure system and an anti-cyclone is a high pressure system.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2) Why do cyclones form in the sea?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Warm, moist air over the ocean rises due to less density. This air rises up and away from the ocean surface, leaving less air near the surface, creating a low-pressure zone. Due to the surrounding high-pressure areas, air flows into this low-pressure area and eventually warms up, forming a cycle.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/cyclone-mocha-bay-of-bengal-imd-8600399\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Cyclone Mocha likely to develop over Bay of Bengal today: IMD<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/india-news\/cyclone-mocha-live-updates-west-bengal-bay-of-bengal-andaman-nicobar-islands-imd-101683603177733.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>HT<\/u><\/a><u>\u00a0<\/u> \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tropical Cyclone is a weather phenomenon formed over warm ocean waters near the equator.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":35300,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-35299","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}