CYCLONE NISARGA IN MUMBAI

CYCLONE NISARGA IN MUMBAI

Cyclone Nisarga’s landfall at Murud in Raigad district of Maharashtra on June 3.

Nisarga was categorised as a severe cyclone

Cyclone: It is a large scale air mass that rotates around a strong centre of low atmospheric pressure

 

Cyclones are characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate about a zone of low pressure. 

The largest low-pressure systems are polar vortices and extratropical cyclones of the largest scale (the synoptic scale). 

Warm-core cyclones such as tropical cyclones and subtropical cyclones also lie within the synoptic scale.

Cyclogenesis is the development or strengthening of cyclonic circulation in the atmosphere. 

Cyclolysis is the opposite of cyclogenesis, and is the high-pressure system equivalent, which deals with the formation of high-pressure areas—Anticyclogenesis. 

Cyclones can transition between extratropical, subtropical, and tropical phases. Mesocyclones form as warm core cyclones over land, and can lead to tornado formation. 

Because of the Coriolis effect, the wind flow is counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. 

3 main types of surface-based cyclones: Extratropical cyclones, Subtropical cyclones and Tropical cyclones

 

Extratropical cyclone:  Cyclones outside the tropics, in the middle latitudes. 

Extratropical cyclones are almost classified as baroclinic since they form along zones of temperature and dewpoint gradient within the westerlies, 

Subtropical cyclone: Some characteristics of a tropical cyclone and some characteristics of an extratropical cyclone. 

Broad wind patterns with maximum sustained winds located farther from the center than typical tropical cyclones, and exist in areas of weak to moderate temperature gradient

 

Tropical: A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and flooding rain. 

 

Depending on their location and strength, tropical cyclones have different names, such as hurricane, typhoon, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, or simply as a cyclone. 

Cyclones have also been seen on extraterrestrial planets, such as Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune