Cyclone Remal to reach Bangladesh by Sunday

A low-pressure system over the Bay of Bengal is expected to intensify and reach Bangladesh and adjoining India's West Bengal coasts as a severe cyclonic storm by Sunday evening.

The cyclone in the Bay of Bengal will be named “Remal”, according to a system of naming cyclones in the Indian Ocean region.

This is the first cyclone in the Bay of Bengal this pre-monsoon season, said the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The IMD said the system will concentrate into a depression over the central Bay of Bengal by Friday morning. It will further intensify into a cyclonic storm on Saturday morning and reach Bangladesh and adjoining India's West Bengal coast as a severe cyclonic storm by Sunday evening.

According to the IMD, the cyclone could reach a wind speed of 102 kilometres per hour on Sunday.

The IMD has warned of very heavy rainfall in the coastal districts of India's West Bengal, north Odisha, Mizoram, Tripura and south Manipur on May 26-27.

Cyclonic storms are intensifying rapidly and retaining their potency for longer periods due to warmer sea surface temperatures, a result of oceans absorbing most of the excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions.

The past 30 years have witnessed the highest sea surface temperatures since records began in 1880.

According to IMD scientists, warmer sea surface temperatures mean more moisture, which is favourable for the intensification of cyclones.

The Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea are very warm at present, so a tropical cyclone can easily form, said the IMD.

Source: UNB