Cyclone Ockhi First in Almost 40 Years to Travel Over 2,000 km

Ockhi is the first storm in almost 40 years in the Indian Ocean region to have travelled more than 2,000 kilometres

Ockhi is the first severe cyclonic storm in almost 40 years in the Indian Ocean region to have travelled more than 2,000 kilometres, a senior Met Department official said on Thursday, 4 January.

It travelled about 2,400 kilometres from the Bay of Bengal to as far as the Gujarat coast.

Ockhi formed as a depression over southwest Bay of Bengal on 29 November, last year. It intensified into a cyclone off the Kanyakumari coast in Tamil Nadu on 30 November and travelled up to the Gujarat coast before dissipating on 6 December after weakening into a low pressure area.

In over three decades, this is the first severe cyclonic storm to have travelled more than 2,000 kilometres – forming over the Bay of Bengal, emerging into the Arabian Sea and travelling up to the Gujarat coast.

S Balachandran, Regional Meteorological Centre to PTI

Times When Cyclones in the Region Travelled Longer Distances

In December 1922, a cyclone that originated in the Bay of Bengal travelled about 4,000 km up to the coast of Yemen, he said.

Balachandran said cyclones in November 1966, November 1977, and November 1978, which formed over the Bay of Bengal, emerged into the Arabian sea and covered a distance of over 3,000 km.

However, these cyclones did not affect Kanyakumari as they traversed across Tamil Nadu, north of 10°N latitude, before emerging into the Arabian sea.

Ockhi was also significant in the sense that it led to copious rainfall, especially in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu with Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari getting 42 percent and 23 percent of excess rainfall respectively during the North- East monsoon season, he said.

Cyclone Ockhi left a trail of destruction in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, apart from devastating coastal areas in Kerala and Lakshadweep.

Hundreds of fishermen, who had gone out to the sea for fishing well ahead of Ockhi's formation, could not access information on the cyclone. Many were killed and scores are still missing.

(With inputs from PTI.)

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