The severe Cyclonic storm Nilofar has died down and turned into a low pressure area, much to the relief of the people of Kutch region. Nilofar has kept up with the trend of Arabian Sea cyclones fizzling on their way to the Gujarat coast. In the last ten years most cyclones formed in the Arabian Sea have weakened and spared the Gujarat coast.
Though, these cyclones don’t create so much damage and go unnoticed like the ones making landfall as severe cyclones, the main feature of cyclones like Nilofar is heavy rain over the seas itself. While, these cyclones are travelling over the seas they give heavy to very heavy rain. But they are overlooked as they don’t affect normal life in a big way.
In fact the cylones in the Bay of Bengal are even more ferocious and give intense rain over the seas before making landfall. The recent cyclone Hudhud is a perfect example in this regard.
To understand this better we compare last three days amount and intensity of rain caused by cyclone Nilofar and Hudhud in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal respectively.
Hudhud rainfall over Bay of Bengal on October 10
As you can see in the picture, the cyclone has a proper circulation with some prominent light blue patches, which indicates rainfall amounts between 160 and 220 mm over the seas.
Hudhud rainfall over Bay of Bengal on October 11
In this picture the light blue patches are even larger signifying that rainfall over the sea has continued to be heavy, covering a bigger area.
Hudhud rainfall over Bay of Bengal on October 12
This picture shows cyclone Hudhud approaching Andhra coast. As it nears the coast the cyclone comes in contact with dry winds from the land which reduces the cyclone’s moisture content, vital in maintaining its strength. Therefore the blue patches have lessened and with it the spread of rain over the seas also.
Now we take a look at the pattern of Nilofar in the last three days.
Nilofar rainfall over Arabian Sea on October 27
Here in this picture, the cyclone does not have shape of a proper circulation and the blue patches are minimal. This shows that the intensity is in the same range between 160 and 220 mm, but its spread is very less.
Nilofar rainfall over Arabian Sea on October 28
In this picture the blue patch is slightly larger than the previous day, which signifies that the area of rainfall has increased but the intensity is same. However, it still does not have a proper pattern of rain belt.
Nilofar rainfall over Arabian Sea on October 29
Here in this picture the blue patch indicating rain has absolutely disappeared and the cyclone has moved farther away.
From these comparisons we can say that cyclones in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal bring heavy to very heavy rain while in the seas but go unnoticed. We also draw a conclusion that the Bay of Bengal cyclones are relatively stronger than the ones in the Arabian Sea and give heavier rain while over the seas.
