The 1987 North Indian Ocean cyclone season was part of the annual cycle of

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

formation. The season has no official bounds but cyclones tend to form between April and December. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northern

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

. There are two main seas in the North Indian Ocean—the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...

to the east of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

and the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

to the west of India. The official

Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre A Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) is responsible for the distribution of information, advisories, and warnings regarding the specific program they have a part of, agreed by consensus at the World Meteorological Organization as p ...

in this basin is the India Meteorological Department (IMD), while the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) releases unofficial advisories. An average of five tropical cyclones form in the North Indian Ocean every season with peaks in May and November. Cyclones occurring between the meridians 45°E and 100°E are included in the season by the IMD. Prior to

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, this season had the most tropical storms in North Indian recorded history, with 8 storms forming.

Systems

Tropical Storm One (1B)

Tropical Storm One, which developed in the central Bay of Bengal on January 30, turned to the north and reached a peak of 65 mph winds on the 2nd. Vertical shear weakened it to a tropical depression before it hit northern

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

on the 4th.

Tropical Storm Two (2B)

On June 4 65 mph Tropical Storm Two hit Bangladesh, causing little damage or loss of life.

Tropical Storm Three (3A)

The monsoon trough spawned a tropical depression on June 4 in the Arabian Sea. It tracked due eastward, becoming a tropical storm later that day and reaching a peak of 60 mph winds on the 6th. The storm turned abruptly northward, turned westward and executed an anticyclonic loop. Vertical shear caused the system to dissipate on the 12th.

Tropical Storm Four (4B)

A monsoon depression became more tropical on October 14 in the Bay of Bengal. It traveled northwestward, becoming a tropical storm on the 15th and hitting southeastern India as a 50 mph storm that night. It rapidly dissipated over land.

Tropical Storm Five (5B)

65 mph Tropical Storm Five, which developed on October 30 in the Bay of Bengal, made landfall at

Nellore Nellore is a city located on the banks of Penna River, in Nellore district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of the district, as well as Nellore mandal and Nellore revenue division. It is the List of cities in ...

on the 2nd, dissipating shortly thereafter. 50 people and 26,000 cattle were reported to be died and 7 lakh people were affected due to the storm.

Tropical Storm Six (6B)

The monsoon trough spawned a tropical depression on November 8 in the southeastern Bay of Bengal. It tracked northward, then turned westward, strengthening to a 60 mph tropical storm before hitting eastern India on the 12th.

Tropical Storm Seven (7A)

Tropical Storm Seven, which developed in the western Bay of Bengal on December 2, strengthened in the eastern Arabian Sea to a 50 mph storm. It turned to the northeast, where upper-level winds weakened it to a tropical depression. The depression hit western India, 90 miles south of

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, on the 12th, and dissipated the next day without causing any damage.

Tropical Storm Eight (8B)

The eighth and final storm of the season formed on December 17 northeast of Sri Lanka. It moved westward, and executed an elongated loop lasting 4 days. It briefly reached tropical storm strength before vertical shear weakened it again, and the system hit eastern India on the 23rd.

References

External links

India Meteorological DepartmentJoint Typhoon Warning Center
{{TC Decades, Year=1980, basin=North Indian Ocean, type=cyclone 1987 NIO