Two cyclones make landfall in Andhra Pradesh within six days
The rare occurrence of back-to-back coastal landfalls in the Bay of Bengal has not been seen in 13 years.
Two cyclones formed over the Bay of Bengal struck the southeastern coast of India within six days of each other, according to The Telegraph India. Cyclone Arnab hit Andhra Pradesh on October 28, followed by Cyclone Murasu, which made landfall in the same state on November 3.
Cyclone Arnab arrived as a very severe cyclonic storm between 2am and 8am on October 28, producing heavy rain and wind gusts reaching 150kmph. Severe Cyclonic Storm Murasu later hit the south Andhra Pradesh coast near Ongole in the Prakasam district.
A meteorological official stated that while both storms hit Andhra Pradesh, they had different tracks and origins, with Murasu starting in the southeastern Bay of Bengal and Arnab in the east-central Bay.
This pattern of consecutive landfalls last occurred in 2013, when Cyclone Helen hit Machilipatnam on November 22 and Cyclone Lehar struck the same district six days later on November 28.
H.R. Biswas, head of the forecasting section at the Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore, said that between 1999 and 2026, approximately 50 cyclones have appeared in the Bay of Bengal during October, November, and December.
Biswas added that while the Bay of Bengal typically sees more cyclones than the Arabian Sea, two systems making landfall within a week of each other is relatively uncommon.