The first thought that occurs is – ‘cyclones were not as devastating’ in those days of print media and doordarshan – now the impact is so powerful due to media and weather bloggers. There have been red, blue, orange and every other colour alerts – perhaps has passed off sort of peacefully, it rained, heavily at times - a cyclone, The cyclonic storm “MANDOUS weakened into a Deep Depression over north Tamilnadu coast. To move nearly west-northwestwards and gradually weaken into a depression by noon of 10th December, said an IMD report, which is accurate and reliable.
A tropical cyclone is a rotational low pressure system in tropics when the central pressure falls by 5 to 6 hPa from the surrounding and maximum sustained wind speed reaches 34 knots (about 62 kmph). The word cyclone has been derived from Greek word ‘cyclos’ which means ‘coiling of a snake’. The word cyclone was coined by Heary Piddington who worked as a Rapporteur in Kolkata during British rule. The terms "hurricane" and "typhoon" are region specific names for a strong "tropical cyclone". Tropical cyclones are called “Hurricanes” over the Atlantic Ocean and “Typhoons” over the Pacific Ocean.
Cyclone Mandous, a severe cyclonic storm, made landfall late Friday night, crossing the coast in Tamil Nadu with a wind speed of 75 km an hour. The cyclone has now weakened into a deep depression. The cyclone made landfall around 10.30 pm on Friday and crossed the coast near Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) in Tamil Nadu, around 1.30 am with a wind speed of 75 km an hour. It then weakened into a deep depression with Chennai receiving up to 115.1 mm of rain till 5.30 am.
Ahead of the landfall, 13 domestic and three international flights were cancelled at the Chennai airport due to bad weather. Though the intensity lessened — as was expected — three districts are on Red Alert: Chengalpattu and Kancheepuram that border the capital Chennai, and Villupuram just south of them. Schools and colleges were already shut in 12 districts of the state, including Chennai. On the intensity scale, it was earlier classified as 'Severe Cyclonic Storm', the fourth highest, meaning winds of 89-117 km per hour. It has since come down to 'Cyclonic Storm' with winds at 62-88 km/hour. (The most extreme type is 'Super Cyclonic Storm', with winds at 222+ km an hour.)
The cyclone was named by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a
member of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). In Arabic, it means
"treasure box" and is pronounced as "Man-Dous".
It is a slow-moving cyclone and absorbs a lot of moisture. The cyclone gains strength in the form of wind speeds. An official statement by the weather department had stated that the cyclone was "very likely" to maintain its intensity of 'Severe Cyclonic Storm' till early morning Friday, "and then weaken gradually". That happened.
With regards – S. Sampathkumar
10.12.2022
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