Cyclone Mandous [UPSC Notes]

Cyclone Mandous, which emerged from the Bay of Bengal, made landfall in Mamallapuram, 30 km from Chennai, on December 9, 2022, resulting in heavy rainfall and squally winds in parts of coastal Tamil Nadu. In this article, you can read about Cyclone Mandous for the IAS exam geography and current affairs segments.

Cyclone Mandous – A Tropical Cyclone

Mandous, pronounced Man-Dous, is an Arabic word meaning ‘Treasure box’. It was named by the UAE (WMO member) and features in the list of tropical cyclone names prepared by the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RMSC) being followed since April 2020.

• In April 2020, IMD shared a list containing a total of 169 names including 13 names proposed by each member country, which take turns to name tropical cyclones in a sequential manner.
• After the UAE, Yemen is left to assign its proposed name Mocha – pronounced as Mokha.
• In the past 121 years (1891 – 2021), twelve cyclones have crossed the coast between Chennai and Puducherry and Cyclone Mandous is the 13th to make landfall in the region.
• Cyclonic storm Mandous made landfall near Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) on December 9, 2022, with a wind speed of 75 kmph gusting to 85 kmph. It crossed the coast between Puducherry and Sriharikota on December 10 before weakening into a deep depression. Depression (remnant of the cyclonic storm Mandous) weakened into a well-marked, low-pressure area over north-interior Tamil Nadu and its neighbourhood. 
• The states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and the Union Territory of Puducherry were mainly affected by Cyclone Mandous. 
• Mandous has been categorised as a ‘Severe Cyclonic Storm’.

Cyclones

• The atmospheric disturbances which involve a closed circulation of air around a low pressure at the centre and high pressure at the periphery, rotating anti-clockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere (due to the Coriolis force) are called “cyclones”.
• Cyclones are broadly classified into two types based on the latitudes of their origin-
  • Tropical cyclones
  • Temperate/Extra-tropical cyclones

Tropical Cyclones

• Tropical cyclones develop in the region between the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer. These are violent storms that originate over oceans in tropical areas and move on to the coastal regions bringing large-scale destruction caused by violent winds, very heavy rainfall and storm surges. These cyclones are one of the most devastating natural calamities. 
• Tropical cyclones mostly move along with the direction of trade winds, so they travel from east to west and make landfall on the eastern coasts of the continents.
• Tropical cyclones are known by different names depending on the regions of the world. They are known as Hurricanes in the Atlantic, Typhoons in the Western Pacific and South China Sea, Willy-willies in Western Australia and Cyclones in the Indian Ocean.

Temperate Cyclones/Extra-Tropical Cyclones

• It occurs between 30°-60° latitude in both hemispheres (in between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic circle in the northern hemisphere and in between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle in the southern hemisphere).
• These cyclones move with the westerlies and are therefore oriented from west to east.

Know more about tropical and extra-tropical cyclones from the links below:

Naming of Cyclones

Cyclones that form in every ocean basin across the world are named by the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centres (RSMCs) and Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs). There are six RSMCs in the world, including the India Meteorological Department (IMD), and five TCWCs.

• As an RSMC, the IMD names the cyclones developing over the north Indian Ocean, including the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, after following a standard procedure. The IMD is also mandated to provide cyclone advisories and alerts to 13 member countries — Bangladesh, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Read more on how cyclones are categorised and how they are named in the link here.

Tropical Cyclones in India

The Bay of Bengal is more prone to cyclones than the Arabian Sea. The months of October-November and May-June see storms of severe intensity develop in the North Indian Ocean — comprising the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea — with an average of five developing in a calendar year. According to the IMD, of these five storms, four are in the Bay of Bengal and one in the Arabian Sea.

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