Cyclone Mocha

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has classified Cyclone Mocha, which has made landfall in Myanmar, as an Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm, and the international meteorological service Zoom Earth has dubbed it a "Super Cyclone." According to Jeju National University's Typhoon Research Centre in South Korea, it became the strongest typhoon on record in 2023. This year has already seen 16 cyclones, 16 of which have been in the Southern Hemisphere.

What is Mocha?

Naming    

  

     The word "Mocha," which is meant to be pronounced "Mokha," was proposed by Yemen.

The Red Sea port city noted for its coffee manufacturing bears the name of the cyclone. The well-known beverage, café Mocha, also bears the name of the city. 

Origin:

The Bay of Bengal was its place of genesis.

Intensity: 

                  Tying with storm Fani in both speed and intensity, Mocha, with a reported wind speed of 277 kmph, became the strongest storm for all seasons in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal since 1982.

Amphan was observed in 2020 travelling at 268 kmph, Tauktae in 2021 at 222 kmph, and Gonu in 2007 at 268 kmph. 

                                                  How do cyclones work?

A low-pressure area is surrounded by swift inward air circulation, or cyclones. In the Northern and Southern hemispheres, respectively, the air moves clockwise and anticlockwise.

Storms and unfavourable weather are frequently present during cyclones.

The name "cyclone" comes from the Greek word "cyclos," which means a snake's coils. Henry Peddington came up with the term because tropical storms in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal resemble coiled sea serpents.

Types:

Tropical Storms The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) refers to weather systems with winds greater than "Gale Force" (a minimum of 63 kilometres per hour) as "Tropical Cyclones."

Between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer, tropical cyclones form.   

Extratropical cyclones: These storms are sometimes referred to as Temperate, Middle Latitude, Frontal, or Wave cyclones.

Despite being known to have their origins in the Polar Regions, they can be found in temperate zones and high latitude areas.

Tropical cyclones: What are they?

About: A tropical cyclone is a powerful circular storm with a low atmospheric pressure that develops over warm tropical oceans and is characterised by strong winds and heavy rain.

The eye, a centre region with clear skies, warm temperatures, and low air pressure, is a defining characteristic of tropical cyclones.

Typhoons in SouthEast Asia and China are equivalent to hurricanes in the North Atlantic and eastern Pacific. In the southwest Pacific and Indian Ocean region, they are known as tropical cyclones, and in north-western Australia, they are known as Willy-willies.

In the northern hemisphere, storms move anticlockwise, while in the southern hemisphere, they move clockwise.

the prerequisites for formation

Tropical storms can form and intensify under the following conditions:

a sizable sea surface that is warmer than 27 °C.

the Coriolis force is present.

The vertical wind speed varies very slightly.

a weak low-pressure area or low-level cyclonic circulation that already exists.

the system's upper divergence above sea level.

How are Low-Pressure Systems Divided Into Different Groups Based on Intensity?

The WMO has adopted the IMD's classification standards for low-pressure systems in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal based on their potential to cause damage.

Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs) and regional specialised meteorological centres (RSMCs) give names to cyclones that develop in all ocean basins across the world.

There are five TCWCs and six RSMCs worldwide, including the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The decision to begin naming cyclones in the region was made in 2000 by a group of countries known as WMO/ESCAP (World Meteorological Organization/United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific), which included Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

The list was finalised by the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones (PTC) after each nation submitted proposals in 2018 Yemen, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

How frequently do cyclones occur in India?

India has cyclone season twice a year, from March to May and from October to December. Cyclones do, however, occasionally form in the months of June and September.

Tropical cyclones typically form during the pre-monsoon (April to June) and post-monsoon (October to December) seasons in the North Indian Ocean region (Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea).

The Indian shores are known to be affected by severe cyclones that form in the months of May through June and October through November.