The cyclonic storm ‘MORA’ over east-central Bay of Bengal moved northward during past 06 hours with a speed of 11 kmph and lay centred at 0830 hrs IST, 29th May, 2017 over east-central Bay of Bengal near Latitude 17.3ºN and Longitude 91.3ºE, about 660 km south-southeast of Kolkata and 550 km south-southwest of Chittagong.
The system is likely to intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm during next 12 hours. It is very likely to move north-northeastwards and cross Bangladesh coast between longitude 91.0ºE and 92.0ºE near Chittagong around 30th May 2017 forenoon.
Every year, the North Indian Ocean cyclone season extends roughly between April to December with two peaks in May and November.
This season includes cyclones in Bay of Bengal and Arabian sea, apart from Indian Ocean in northern hemisphere.
The first cyclone of 2017 season was Cyclone Maarutha which was formed in April, 2017 triggering heavy rainfall in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and India’s Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
Apart from other damages, three people were killed in Myanmar by Cyclone Maarutha. Cyclone Mora is second such cyclone in the Indian Ocean.
Naming of Tropical Cyclone Tropical cyclones are classified into three main groups, based on intensity: tropical depressions, tropical storms, and a third group of more intense storms, whose name depends on the region. If a tropical storm in the North-western Pacific reaches hurricane-strength winds on the Beaufort scale, it is referred to as a typhoon.
If a tropical storm passes the same benchmark in the Northeast Pacific Basin, or in the Atlantic, it is called a hurricane. Neither “hurricane” nor “typhoon” is used in either the Southern Hemisphere or the Indian Ocean.
In these basins, storms of tropical nature are referred to simply as “cyclones”.
