The 1988 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.

Systems

Deep Depression One (1A)

A tropical depression that formed on June 8 off the western coast of India tracked westward, becoming a tropical storm on the 9th. It looped to the north, where upper-level winds ripped it apart on the 12th.

Severe Cyclonic Storm Two (02B)

A tropical disturbance in the eastern Bay of Bengal developed into a tropical depression on October 17. It moved northwestward, briefly becoming a tropical storm before upper-level winds weakened it. The storm hit

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

as a tropical depression on the 19th, but still managed to cause strong

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the n ...

and flooding amounting to 1500 casualties.

Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Three (03B)

Tropical Storm Three, which formed in the southern Bay of Bengal on November 14, tracked northward to reach a peak of 65 mph winds before hitting

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 18th. The storm rapidly dissipated over land.

Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Four (04B)

The monsoon trough spawned a tropical depression just west of the Malay Peninsula on November 21. Its large circulation caused mudslides and flooding over western

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

before consolidating into a tropical storm on the 24th over the central Bay of Bengal. The storm turned northward, where conditions allowed for continued development. The storm became a cyclone on the 26th, and it continued to strengthen as it moved northward. Cyclone Four reached a peak of 130 mph just before hitting the

Sundarbans Sundarbans (pronounced ) is a mangrove area in the delta formed by the confluence of the Padma, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. It spans the area from the Baleswar River in Bangladesh's division of Khulna to the Hooghly R ...

part of Bangladesh. Heavy storm surge and torrential flooding killed 2000 people (with 6000 missing), and left millions homeless.

Deep Depression Five (05B)

From December 6 through the 8th, a tropical storm meandered through the central Bay of Bengal, remaining at sea through its lifetime.

References

External links

India Meteorological DepartmentJoint Typhoon Warning Center
{{TC Decades, Year=1980, basin=North Indian Ocean, type=cyclone 1988 NIO