CYCLONE ‘GAJA’

Nov. 13, 2018

The deep depression over the Bay of Bengal has intensified into Cyclone ‘Gaja’. According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), Coastal areas of north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry would experience moderate to heavy rainfall.

About:

Cyclones are known as typhoons in the China Sea and Pacific Ocean; hurricanes in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean; tornados in the Guinea lands of West Africa and southern USA; willy-willies in north-western Australia and tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean.
Cyclones are caused by atmospheric disturbances around a low-pressure area distinguished by swift and often destructive air circulation. Cyclones are usually accompanied by violent storms and bad weather.
The air circulates inward in an anticlockwise direction in the Northern hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern hemisphere.

Types:

Cyclones are classified as: (i) extra tropical cyclones; and (ii) tropical cyclones.
to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), ‘Tropical Cyclone’ covers weather systems in which winds exceed ‘Gale Force’ (minimum of 34 knots or 63 kph).
Extra tropical cyclones (also called temperate cyclones) occur in temperate zones and high latitude regions, though they are known to originate in the Polar Regions.

Source : The Hindu