Cyclone Burevi – A Cyclonic Storm of Double-acting Landfall Process

Gautam Kumar Das

Cyclones sometimes doubled the roles for stormy devastation and the executioner for performing double landfall processes. The recently formed Cyclone Burevi, emerged from the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean, doubled up with the uncontrollable fury of nature with the double-acting landfall process in two countries consecutively striking first over Sri Lanka at Mullaittivu, north of  Trincomalee on 2 December 2020, and second yet to strike Indian coast at Tuticorin in between Kanyakumari and Pamban of Tamil Nadu scheduled on 4 December 2020 as per forecast by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), but the second landfall not yet happened. Only after a week of devastation by the very severe cyclonic storm Nivar (26 November 2020), southern peninsular coastal stretch of India is to be ravaged again by the Cyclone Burevi. Before the occurrences of the cyclones Burevi and Nivar, Cyclone Gati hit Somalia coast on 23 November and Cyclone Nisarga destroyed Maharashtra coastal region on 6 June 2020 emerging from the Arabian Sea. Before the formation of these cyclones, Amphan, the maiden Super Cyclone of the century ravaged the south districts of Bengal of both India and Bangladesh on 20 May 2020 emerging from the Bay of Bengal. Thus, the Cyclone Burevi is the 5th cyclonic storm in the peninsular India in 2020, and the third cyclonic event formed over the Bay of Bengal. Such consecutive occurrences of cyclonic storms is the consequence of the formation of weather system over the higher sea surface temperature (SST) which is strengthened by the sufficient energy in the form of heat and moisture in the North Indian Ocean peak cyclone season during October – December and April – June in a year respectively. Intensification of cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal (BOB) is directly correlated to that sea surface temperature. Even in the huge rainfall precipitation during the landfall processes of the cyclonic storms, the sea surface temperature over the Bay of Bengal is recorded 29 – 300C for major cyclonic events in peninsular India. That sea surface temperature over the Bay of Bengal favoured and strengthened the weather system for the formation of the cyclonic storm Burevi, though cyclone Burevi has not become a very severe cyclonic storm to the peninsular India for its physical nature of two consecutive landfall processes and the cyclonic weather system linger for a much longer duration. The weather system has to come across a long distance over the warmer water of the Bay of Bengal before its strike upon the coastal region.

The year 2020 is a world-wide remarkable year for the corona pandemic due to the pathogenic contamination of Covid 19 and for the several severe cyclonic disturbances in coastal peninsular India. Again, the first day of December, the last month of this year 2020 starts with a cyclonic note for India as the cyclone Burevi formed over the Bay of Bengal and the adjacent ocean on 28 November and hit Sri Lanka on 2 December and the peninsular India likely on 4 December. Cyclone Burevi is generated with the formation of a low pressure area over the South Andaman Sea, and the adjoining areas of southeast Bay of Bengal, and Equatorial Indian Ocean on 28 November 2020. The low pressure area has formed a depression over the southeast Bay of Bengal on 30 November 2020 and a deep depression at 0530 hours IST on 1 December 2020, respectively. That deep depression is intensified into a cyclonic storm Burevi at 1730 hours IST on 1 December 2020 and is further intensified into a severe cyclonic storm at 1930 hour IST on 2 December 2020 as reported by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). Deep depression has become a cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal when its maximum sustained wind speed (MST) ranges from 34 to 47 knot/kmph. Cyclone Burevi is the 4th named storm in the new list (April 2020) for the Tropical cyclonic names of the North Indian Ocean and the 5th storm in the Indian Ocean for 2020 and 3rd in the Bay of Bengal in 2020. For the influence of the cyclonic storm Burevi, different areas like Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Pamban, Tondi and Kanyakumari including the other coastal areas of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and Maharashtra have received heavy to very heavy rainfall along with high-velocity winds. Further, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an alert of a storm surge of up to 3.2 feet high above astronomical tide which may inundate low-lying areas of Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari districts in Tamil Nadu during the time of landfall, though the speed of the cyclonic movement of the cyclone Burevi is fluctuating in nature when it advances towards the coastal region.

Speed of progress of Cyclone Burevi over the Bay of Bengal

(Source: IMD)

On 2 December 2020, cyclone Burevi is further intensified as severe cyclonic storm and is rapidly organizing and strengthening steadily and has developed a circular dense overcast cloud mass, a manifestation of its intensification as a severe cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal. For remedial measures, total 5 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) arrived at Thoothukudi and Tiruneveli districts of Tamil Nadu for the rescue operations particularly in the low-lying region of the state – reported by The Indian Express. Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) alerted the fishermen communities not to go down the seas again in between 1 to 4 December. Tamil Nadu government is fully prepared to face the strong wind speed of 70 – 80 kmph gusting to 90 kmph during the second strike of the cyclone Burevi in the south Tamil Nadu coast. Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued warning to Lakshadweep, Maldives and adjoining areas of the Arabian Sea and the fishermen of those areas are alerted for total suspension of fishing operation during 3-5 December 2020.

For a precaution measure, Government of Sri Lanka evacuated more than 75,000 people in the low-lying areas of the east coast of the country and opened 237 relief centers in the district of Trincomalee.  Sri Lanka Government notified for the closure of all educational institutions in the Northern Province and Eastern Province until at least December 4 due to the huge rainfall and gusty winds for the Cyclone Burevi. Government of Tamil Nadu opened 63 relief centers in the Thoothukudi district, and the temporary barriers are constructed with 30,000 sandbags to stop breaching of saline water into the irrigation tanks. In Kerala, more than 2000 relief camps are opened up in the low-lying areas along the coastal region as red alert is issued for the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Kollam, and Pathanamthitta and orange alerts for the districts of Kottayam, Idukki, and Ernakulam. Fishing operations in the deep sea and coastal sea have completely been banned for the fishermen’s community by the Kerala Government.

Huge rainfall precipitation has been continuing in the coastal areas of three states for the occurrence of the Cyclone Burevi. Extreme southern districts of Tamil Nadu have received continuous heavy rainfall for the cyclonic storm.

Rainfall precipitation during the advancement of Cyclone Burevi

(Source: IMD)

Landfall process of a cyclone creates most chaotic situations in the surrounding environments that leads to the worst weather conditions. Cyclone Burevi started its first landfall process near the north of Trincomalee in Sri Lanka by 2230 hours of IST on 2 December 2020 and it takes about three hours to complete the landfall process before entering into the Gulf of Mannar in the morning of 3 December 2020. Cyclonic storm Burevi crossed the coastal areas of Sri Lanka closed to north Trincomalee near Latitude 8.850N and Longitude 81.00E with a windspeed of 80-90 kmph gusting to 100 kmph with heavy to very heavy rainfall. After making landfall over northeast Sri Lanka the cyclonic storm Burevi moved west northwestwards with a speed of 12 kmph during the past 6 hours – reported by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). The cyclonic storm lay centered over Sri Lanka coast near Latitude 9.00N and Longitude 80.30E near about 40 km east of Gulf of Mannar, 120 km east southeast of Pamban and 320 km east northeast of Kanyakumari at 0530 hours of IST. The most probable landfall is forecasted over the south Tamil Nadu coast near Ramanathpuram in the morning of 4 December 2020 as per the bulletin issued by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). But surprisingly, on 3 December in the night, the Cyclone Burevi is no more as a severe cyclonic storm as it lost its sufficient energy for the first landfall in the Sri Lanka coast and the storm yet to overcome a relatively longer passage before entering the coastal areas of Indian mainland. Further, the speed of progress of the storm has been reduced to 12 kmph (at 0530 hours of IST) to 11 kmph at 0830 hours of IST on 3 December. Not only the low speed of progress of the Cyclone Burevi after the first landfall process in the Sri Lanka coast, but the height of the tidal storm surge for the final landfall is reduced to about 1 m height above astronomical tide in the low-lying areas of Tamil Nadu in comparison to that of the storm surge height of 2-3 m for the first landfall at Sri Lanka coast, though the Sri Lanka coastal areas witnessed a huge rainfall  as the Cyclone Burevi earlier made its first landfall at night on 02nd December near the north of Trincomalee district between Thiriyaya and Kuchchaveli villages and moved near Mannar by 3 December early morning. At least 12,000 residents are affected by huge rainfall lashed and strong winds blown over the Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka – reported The Hindu. The maximum rainfall of 279.8 mm in 2-3 December is recorded in Kilinochchi of Sri Lanka. North Sri Lanka witnessed heavy downpour with Trincomalee recording 167 mm rainfall, Jaffna 245 mm and Mannar 190 mm in 2-3 December 2020.  

Cyclone Burevi is no more in the status of cyclone at 1730 hours IST of 3 December before its arrival to the Indian coast and is weakened into a deep depression as it moved over the shallow water of the Gulf of Mannar and has crossed a longer passage over the ocean-land-ocean. When a cyclone has lost its cyclonic status, it has lost even its name and is merely described as a deep depression. At 0830 hours IST of 4 December, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a bulletin stating the status of the storm – the deep depression remain practically stationary over the Gulf of Mannar, about 40 km southwest of Ramanathapuram, 70 km west southwest of Pamban with the associated wind speed of 55-65 kmph gusting to 75 kmph and it will remain stationary over the same region and downgraded into a depression during the next 12 hours, and into a Well Marked Low (WML) during subsequent 24 hours. Storm Burevi has gradually been downgraded from deep depression into a depression and is no more in a situation to make its second landfall in the peninsular India that must reduce the damage of houses and properties of the coastal inhabitants. The storm might lose its intensity partially because of the movement of the storm in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mannar and the Cyclone Burevi is likely to disappear within the ocean. Cyclone Burevi emerged from the waters of the Equatorial Indian Ocean, then its gradual cyclonic progress emerged into view over the land portions of Sri Lanka coast, and finally it merged with the ocean waters in the Gulf of Mannar. Energy gained by a cyclonic storm from the ocean waters is lost again in that ocean proves that the creation and destruction of a natural phenomenon must abide by the laws of masses and energy of the nature of its own.

Frontier
Dec 5, 2020