Thread by @weatherindia

#Amphan Becomes Most Intense Cyclone over BoB in 21st Century; Strongest on Earth This Year

weather.com/en-IN/india/ne…

#CycloneAmphan #Amphan #CycloneAmphanUpdate

With 3-minute maximum sustained wind speed (MSW) of 230 km/h (145 mph), Cyclone Amphan, on Monday, May 18, became the strongest cyclone over the Bay of Bengal in the 21st century.

#CycloneAmphan #Amphan #CycloneAmphanUpdate

The monster storm is also the joint-most intense cyclonic storm that the Earth has witnessed so far this year, tied with Cyclone Harold that formed over the South Pacific basin last month.

Both these cyclones recorded an estimated 1-minute MSW of 270 km/h (165 mph), with the latter claiming more than 30 lives and causing widespread destruction in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, and Tonga.

Meanwhile, Amphan, after forming over the Bay of Bengal on Saturday, underwent rapid intensification in the subsequent 48 hours, eventually reaching the highest classification of ‘super cyclonic storm’ at 11:30 a.m. on Monday.

#CycloneAmphan #Amphan #CycloneAmphanUpdate

Strongest cyclone since 1999

Wind speeds at the eyewall region of a cyclone is often used as common indicators of just how intense the cyclonic storm is.

#CycloneAmphan #Amphan #CycloneAmphanUpdate

Prior to #Amphan, the 1999 Odisha cyclone was the most intense tropical cyclone not just in the Bay of Bengal region, but across the entirety of the North Indian Ocean, as it reached monstrous wind speeds of 260 km/h (160 mph).