Cyclone Madi formed into a ‘very severe’ cyclone on Sunday night and then rapidly weakened into a severe cyclone by Monday evening. Weather forecast at Skymet suggests Cyclone Madi could weaken further and die down in the seas itself by the end of the week, without posing any major threat to the Indian coastline.
Here are a few factors which could help us understand why Cyclone Madi weakened rapidly:
Entrainment– Cyclone Madi remained in the seas for an entire week, maintaining a distance from the India coastline. But even then the domain of cyclone came in contact with the colder air, which was travelling from the surrounding environment. Therefore, this flow or intrusion of cold air from the land to areas of relatively warmer temperatures in the sea (to the place where the cyclone was situated) resulted in the weakening of Cyclone Madi.
Not enough thermal power– Weathermen at Skymet explain that when any system remains practically stationary for a long time in the seas, it draws energy from the sea surface, draining all the thermal power in that area. But as it remains stationary, it tends to become colder with time, losing its initial strength. Cyclone Madi remained stationary in the sea for more than 3 days before it moved any further.
Cold waters – When a cyclone gains latitude, i.e, it travels in the northern latitudes, it always travels into colder waters, which obviously weakens the strength of that cyclone. Since its formation, Cyclone Madi travelled constantly into the northerly direction, gradually gaining latitude from 7⁰N to 15⁰N. Therefore in spite of Madi having formed into a ‘very severe’ cyclone, it did not have any significant affect on the Indian coastline.
Wind Shear–Wind shear is primarily the difference between the wind speed and the direction of the wind during a cyclone. Moderate strength of the prevalent wind shear led to disfiguring and rapid weakening of Cyclone Madi even though it did intensify into a ‘very severe’ cyclone.
Photo by Ritika Acharya.
