NEW DELHI, May 23: A severe cyclonic storm “Remal” is likely to hit Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal coast by Sunday evening causing very heavy rainfall in the coastal districts of West Bengal, north Odisha, Mizoram, Tripura and south Manipur on May 26-27.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday that a low pressure system formed over Bay of Bengal would intensify and hit Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal as a severe cyclonic storm by Sunday evening.
This will be the first cyclone in the Bay of Bengal in this pre-monsoon season and will be named “Remal” as per the system of naming cyclones in the Indian Ocean region. “The system will concentrate into a depression over central Bay of Bengal by Friday morning. It will further intensify into a cyclonic storm on Saturday morning and reach Bangladesh and the adjoining West Bengal coast as a severe cyclonic storm by Sunday evening,” said IMD scientist Monica Sharma.
According to the IMD, the cyclone could reach a wind speed of 102 kilometres per hour on Sunday. The Met office has warned of fisher folk out at sea to return to the coast and not venture into the Bay of Bengal until May 27.
Scientists say cyclonic storms are intensifying rapidly and retaining their potency for longer periods due to warmer sea surface temperatures, a result of oceans absorbing most of the excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions. The past 30 years have witnessed the highest sea surface temperatures since records began in 1880.
According to senior IMD scientist DS Pai, warmer sea surface temperatures mean more moisture, which is favourable for the intensification of cyclones.
Madhavan Rajeevan, former secretary of the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, said a sea surface temperature of 27 degrees Celsius and above was needed for a low-pressure system to intensify into a cyclone. The sea surface temperature in the Bay of Bengal is around 30 degrees Celsius at present. “The Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea are very warm at present, so a tropical cyclone can easily form,” Rajeevan said.
(Manas Dasgupta)
