Cyclonic storm Remal crossed Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal coasts between Sagar Islands and Khepupara near Mongla on Sunday night as a severe cyclone with a wind speed of 110 to 120 kmph gusting to 135 kmph.
It was centered over coastal Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal, about 130 km east-northeast of Sagar Islands (India), 100 km west of Khepupara (Bangladesh), 65 km east of Canning (India), and 50km southwest of Mongla (Bangladesh) as a severe cyclone until at least 4.30am on Monday.
The system was likely to move north-northeastwards and gradually weaken into a cyclonic storm over the next three hours, IMD said in its bulletin on Monday at 6.30am. It was expected to move northeastward and gradually weaken further. The system was weakening gradually after the landfall.
During the landfall, the severe cyclone had a maximum sustained surface wind (MSW) speed of 110-120 gusting to 135 kmph. At 04.30 am, the MSW was 85-95 kmph gusting to 105 kmph.
An IMD official said severe cyclonic storm Remal did not intensify further for two reasons. “… initially the system was attached to monsoon flow which did not allow it to intensify. When it was detached from the monsoon flow, the cyclone had already reached close to the WB [West Bengal] and Bangladesh coasts and did not have much time to intensify.”
The official said it intensified into a severe cyclone mainly because the sea surface temperatures over the Bay of Bengal are very high—32°C. “…tropical cyclone heat potential is very high…wind shear is moderate and unfavourable for further intensification. We do not anticipate any major negative impact on the monsoon from this cyclone.”
The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) said a marine heat wave of moderate intensity impacted 38% of the Bay of Bengal basin area on Friday. It added this indicates that most of the Bay area has been unusually warm, which contributed to the intensification of Remal. INCOIS said other conditions were not conducive to its further intensification.