User:JavaHurricane/sandbox/Cyclone Titli

Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Titli

Very severe cyclonic storm (IMD scale)
Category 3 tropical cyclone (SSHWS)
Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Titli at peak intensity approaching Andhra Pradesh and Odisha on 10 October 2018.
Formed	October 8, 2018
Dissipated	October 12, 2018
(Remnant low after 12 October)
Highest winds	3-minute sustained: 150 km/h (90 mph) 1-minute sustained: 195 km/h (120 mph)
Lowest pressure	972 hPa (mbar); 28.7 inHg
Fatalities	85 total
Damage	$920 million (2018 USD)
Areas affected	Northern Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Bangladesh
Part of the 2018 North Indian Ocean cyclone season

Cyclone Titli was the most destructive tropical cyclone to impact India in 2018. The 12th tropical cyclone, fifth named storm and third very severe cyclonic storm of the 2018 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, Titli developed from a low pressure area over the southeastern Bay of Bengal on 8 October 2018. The system tracked in a general northwestward direction towards the Indian coast through an environment favouring intensification, attaining cyclonic storm status early the following day. Titli rapidly intensified on 10 October and made landfall at peak intensity on the eastern coast of India as a very severe cyclonic storm. Following landfall, Titli rapidly weakened and recurved northeastwards, degenerating into a low pressure area by early on 13 October.

Meteorological history

The origins of Titli can be traced to an area of low pressure that developed over the southeastern Bay of Bengal and the adjoining southern Andaman Sea at 03:00 UTC (08:30 a.m. IST) on 7 October 2018. Located in an environment favourable for further intensification, the low became well-marked by 9 hours later. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the system concentrated into a depression by 03:00 UTC the following day. Three hours later, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) classified the system as a tropical depression. The nascent depression moved nearly west-northwestwards and strengthened into a deep depression over the east-central Bay of Bengal by 18:00 UTC (11:30 p.m. IST) the same day. The JTWC upgraded the cyclone to a tropical storm at 0000 UTC (05:30 a.m. IST) on 9 October, and at 0600 UTC (11:30 a.m. IST) on the same day, the IMD upgraded the depression to a Cyclonic Storm and assigned it the name Titli.

After being named, Titli moved northwestwards while gradually strengthening. The IMD estimated that Titli intensified into a Severe Cyclonic Storm early on 10 October, and a few hours later the JTWC upgraded Titli to a Category 1-equivalent tropical cyclone. Titli began to rapidly intensify thereafter; at 06:00 UTC (11:30 a.m. IST), the IMD upgraded the cyclone to a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm, while the JTWC upgraded Titli to a Category 2-equivalent tropical cyclone 6 hours later. At 1800 UTC (11:30 p.m.), Titli attained peak intensity, with 3-minute sustained winds of 150 km/h (90 mph), 1-minute sustained winds of 195 km/h (120 mph) and a minimum central pressure of 972 hPa (mbar).

Titli made landfall at peak intensity on the coasts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, near the town of Palasa, between 23:00 UTC on 10 October (04:30 a.m. IST on 11 October) and 00:00 UTC (05:30 a.m) on 11 October. Following landfall, the tropical cyclone weakened rapidly; the IMD downgraded Titli to a Severe Cyclonic Storm within six hours of landfall, while the JTWC simultaneously downgraded the cyclone to Category 1-equivalent intensity. As the cyclone weakened to a Cyclonic Storm late on October 11, mid- and upper-level southwesterly tropospheric winds caused Titli to recurve to the northeast. At 18:00 UTC (23:30 IST), the JTWC downgraded Titli to a tropical storm, while the IMD downgraded the cyclone to a deep depression. The JTWC downgraded the system to a tropical depression 12 hours later and stopped tracking it, but the IMD, which downgraded Titli to a depression three hours later, continued tracking the system as it moved northeastwards until it degenerated into a well-marked low pressure area over West Bengal by 00:00 UTC (05:30 UTC) on 13 October.

Cyclone Titli coexisted with Cyclone Luban, which developed 45 hours prior to Titli and was also a very severe cyclonic storm at the same time as Titli. This coexistance of two very severe cyclonic storms at the same time over the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea was described by the IMD as a "rarest of rare" occurrence.

Preparations

Following the development of Titli, the IMD issued a red alert for parts of Odisha, forecasting "heavy to very heavy" rainfall for the districts of Ganjam, Gajapati, Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Khorda, Nayagarh, Cuttack, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore, Kandhamal, Boudh and Dhenkanal. It also advised fishermen in Odisha and the northern and central Bay of Bengal to not venture into the sea. The Government of Odisha issued a storm surge warning for the southern coast of the state due to predictions of a 0.5 m (1.6 ft) surge that was expected to inundate low-lying areas along the coast. The government asked district collectors to remain on high alert and to remain ready for any emergency. The government also opened 879 cyclone shelters and made ready more than 300 boats in preparation for floods. The East Coast Railway cancelled several train services in advance of the storm. Naveen Patnaik, the Chief Minister of Odisha, held a high-level meeting on the cyclone on 10 October. IndiGo cancelled five flights at the Biju Patnaik Airport in Bhubaneswar due to the cyclone. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation started a multi-agency control room for surveillance of the situation on 10 October, deployed 13 sector officers across the city and pre-positioned pumps in low-lying areas in coordination with the Odisha Fire Service between 10 and 12 October. In some coastal villages, villagers, who were unwilling to evacuate to storm shelters that were described as "dilapidated" and unsafe, were forced by local authorities to leave. In all, more than three lack people were evacuated in advance of the cyclone, mainly from the coastal districts of Ganjam, Khurda, Puri, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara, and 13 of the 15 teams of the National Disaster Response Force were deployed in vulnerable areas, along with teams of the Orissa Disaster Rapid Action Force. All schools, colleges and anganwadi centres were ordered shut on October 10 and 11. The state government said that all 836 cyclone and flood shelters in the state had been prepared and that adequate relief materials had been arranged.