NEW DELHI: Cyclone Fani (pronounced as Foni) as named by Bangladesh, is inching closer to the coasts of Odisha from where it would move towards North East and Bangladesh.
A high alert has been sounded in Manipur as the cyclone is expected to hit the state.
The impact of Fani could be so severe that the Indian Air Force and BrahMos Aerospace have put on hold the test-fire of the air-launched version of supersonic cruise missile from a Sukhoi-30 combat aircraft.
The air-launched version of the BrahMos was to be test-fired by the Air Force over southern India this week.
Northeastern states will be experiencing rain because of the impact of the pressure.
Except for strong winds nothing much is likely to be seen in the region since the storm will be weak in its long course.
The Eastern and Northeastern states have become vulnerable to cyclones because of the topography and climate.
Out of 35 deadliest tropical cyclones, 26 have been Bay of Bengal storms and Odisha has witnessed the most with over hundred such cyclones followed by Andhra Pradesh (AP), Tamil Nadu (TN) and the North East.
India accounts for a quarter of the deaths with AP, TN and Odisha accounting for the maximum casualties. However, Bangladesh has witnessed most casualties accounting for 40 per cent of the world’s tropical cyclone linked deaths in the past two centuries.
More cyclones are formed in the Bay of Bengal than Arabian Sea though both are part of Indian Ocean, due to wind patterns.
Even among those formed along the western coast, many move towards Oman instead of hitting Indian shores, studies have shown.
Storms formed on the eastern coast, however, are more intense and since states on that side have relatively flat topography compared to the western coast they fail to deflect the winds.
Season wise, April to December is the cyclone season, but over 65 per cent of all cyclones occur in the last four months of the year.
Cyclones are classified based on the wind speed around the low-pressure area. Wind speed of over 62 kmph is classified as a tropical cyclone and assigned a name.
It becomes a severe cyclonic storm if the speed is between 89 and 118 kmph and a very severe cyclonic storm if the speed is between 119 and 221 kmph.
Those with higher speeds are categorised as super cyclonic storms.
Odisha was battered by the super cyclone which was the strongest recorded tropical cyclone in the North Indian Ocean and among the most destructive in the region in 1999.
The Bay of Bengal, located in the northeast of the Indian Ocean, is responsible for the formation of some of the strongest and deadliest tropical cyclones in the world.
The basin is abbreviated BOB by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the official Regional Specialized Meteorological Center of the basin.
