CYCLONE IDAI

March 18, 2019

According to the UN and government officials, Cyclone Idai has affected more than 1.5 million people in the three southern African countries of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

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. 

  • According 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. 

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