The Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea differ in cyclone frequency in roughly which ratio?
- A.One to one
- B.Four to one in favour of the Bay of Bengal
- C.Four to one in favour of the Arabian Sea
- D.Ten to one in favour of the Arabian Sea
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, four to one in favour of the Bay of Bengal. The Bay of Bengal gets about four cyclones for every one that forms in the Arabian Sea. Its surface water is warmer, the heavy freshwater discharge of the Ganga, the Brahmaputra and the Irrawaddy keeps the top layer less saline and therefore easier to warm, and systems that weaken over the South China Sea often cross into it and regenerate. Option A is wrong because the two basins are far from equal. Option C and option D reverse the position of the two seas; the Arabian Sea is cooler, drier air blows over it from the west and the shear is stronger, so fewer systems form, although the ones that do, such as the storms that run up to Gujarat and Oman, can be severe. The funnel shaped head of the Bay also raises the storm surge, which is why its cyclones kill more.
Read the full article: Cyclones: Naming, IMD Categories and Warning Stages
Practice Questions
View allA cyclone is known by different names in different parts of the world. In Philippines it is called as _______.
- A.willy-willy
- B.hurricane
- C.typhoon
- D.mango shower
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The Philippines lies in the western North Pacific, and every tropical cyclone of that basin, whether it strikes the Philippines, China or Japan, is called a typhoon.
Read the full explanation →What is the minimum sea surface temperature generally required for a tropical cyclone to form?
- A.About 16.5 degrees Celsius
- B.About 20 degrees Celsius
- C.About 26.5 degrees Celsius
- D.About 36.5 degrees Celsius
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A tropical cyclone runs on the latent heat released when water vapour condenses, so it needs a sea whose surface is at about 26.5 degrees Celsius or warmer, with that warm water reaching down about fifty metres, so that the churning of the sea does not cool the surface.
Read the full explanation →According to the India Meteorological Department, a system is classified as a super cyclonic storm when the sustained wind speed is at least
- A.118 km/h
- B.167 km/h
- C.222 km/h
- D.300 km/h
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The India Meteorological Department puts a system in the highest class, super cyclonic storm, when the sustained wind at its centre reaches 222 km/h, which is 120 knots.
Read the full explanation →In which year did the naming of tropical cyclones in the north Indian Ocean begin?
- A.1999
- B.2004
- C.2013
- D.2018
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The eight countries of the WMO and ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones agreed on a list of names for this basin and began using them in 2004, long after the Atlantic, where naming had been practice for decades.
Read the full explanation →Which body names the tropical cyclones of the north Indian Ocean?
- A.The Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre, New Delhi
- B.The National Disaster Management Authority
- C.The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services
- D.The National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting
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The names themselves are contributed by the thirteen member countries of the panel, but the centre at New Delhi, which the India Meteorological Department runs, takes the next name from the list, announces it when a deep depression strengthens into a cyclonic storm, and issues advisories to all the member…
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