The 2009 North Indian Ocean cyclone season was an event in 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 North Indian Ocean cyclone season has no official bounds, but cyclones tend to form between April and December, with peaks in May and November. 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 ...

. The scope of this article is limited to the Indian Ocean in the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

, east of the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

and west of the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...

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

, abbreviated ''ARB'' by the

India Meteorological Department The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India. It is the principal agency responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasting and seismology. IMD is headquarter ...

(IMD); and 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, abbreviated ''BOB'' by the IMD. 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

(IMD), while the

Joint Typhoon Warning Center The Joint typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The JTWC is responsible for the issuing of tropical cyclone warnings in the North-West Pacific Ocean, South P ...

releases unofficial advisories. The

tropical cyclone scale Tropical cyclones are ranked on one of five tropical cyclone intensity scales, according to their maximum sustained winds and which tropical cyclone basins they are located in. Only a few scales of classifications are used officially by the mete ...

for this basin is detailed on the right. On average, 4 to 6 storms form in this basin every season. __TOC__

Seasonal summary

ImageSize = width:985 height:180 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:80 right:20 left:20 Legend = columns:3 left:30 top:58 columnwidth:270 AlignBars = early DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/04/2009 till:01/01/2010 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = grid:black unit:month increment:1 start:01/04/2009 Colors = id:canvas value:gray(0.88) id:GP value:red id:TD value:rgb(0.38,0.73,1) legend:Depression/Deep_Depression id:TS value:rgb(0,0.98,0.96) legend:Cyclonic_Storm id:ST value:rgb(0.80,1,1) legend:Severe_Cyclonic_Storm id:VS value:rgb(1,1,0.8) legend:Very_Severe_Cyclonic_Storm id:ES value:rgb(1,0.76,0.25) legend:Extremely_Severe_Cyclonic_Storm id:SU value:rgb(1,0.38,0.38) legend:Super_Cyclonic_Storm Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Hurricane bar:Month PlotData= barset:Hurricane width:10 align:left fontsize:S shift:(4,-4) anchor:till from:14/04/2009 till:17/04/2009 color:TS text: Bijli (CS) from:23/05/2009 till:26/05/2009 color:ST text: Aila (SCS) from:23/06/2009 till:26/06/2009 color:TD text:ARB 01 (D) barset:break from:25/06/2009 till:26/06/2009 color:TD text:ARB 02 (D) from:20/07/2009 till:21/07/2009 color:TD text:BOB 03 (DD) from:03/09/2009 till:06/09/2009 color:TD text:BOB 04 (DD) barset:break from:04/11/2009 till:11/11/2009 color:TS text: Phyan (CS) from:10/12/2009 till:16/12/2009 color:TS text:Ward (CS) bar:Month width:5 align:center fontsize:S shift:(0,-20) anchor:middle color:canvas from:01/04/2009 till:01/05/2009 text:April from:01/05/2009 till:01/06/2009 text:May from:01/06/2009 till:01/07/2009 text:June from:01/07/2009 till:01/08/2009 text:July from:01/08/2009 till:01/09/2009 text:August from:01/09/2009 till:01/10/2009 text:September from:01/10/2009 till:01/11/2009 text:October from:01/11/2009 till:30/11/2009 text:November from:01/12/2009 till:01/01/2010 text:December

Systems

Cyclonic Storm Bijli

On April 13, an area of shower and thunderstorms became slightly organized over the central

. Later that day, an

area of low pressure In meteorology, a low-pressure area, low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclement weather (such as cloudy, windy, with possible ...

developed underneath the convection as the system developed. Weak banding features also formed around the periphery of the storm. By April 14, deep convection persisted around the center of circulation; following the development the RSMC in

New Delhi, India New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

designated the system as Depression BOB 01. Following further development, the

(JTWC) issued a

Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert A Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) is a bulletin released by the U.S. Navy-operated Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Honolulu, Hawaii or the Fleet Weather Center in Norfolk, Virginia, warning of the possibility of a tropical cyclone forming ...

(TCFA) as they anticipated the system to develop into a tropical storm. Early the next morning the JTWC reported that the depression had intensified into a tropical storm and designated it as Cyclone 01B. The storm tracked towards the west-northwest due to a mid-level ridge over India. Later that morning RSMC New Delhi reported that the depression had intensified into a deep depression and reported it was expected to intensify into Cyclonic Storm Bijli. Around 1500 UTC, the RSMC New Delhi upgraded the system to a cyclonic storm and gave it the name Bijli. All four ports in

Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sch ...

were placed on high alert due to rough seas produced by the storm. A Local Cautionary Signal Number Three was issued for the Gopalpur, Puri, Paradeep and

Chandabali Chandabali (or Chandbali) is an old town in the Bhadrak district of Odisha on the bank of the River Baitarani. History Before the 19th century AD, Chandabali was a small fishing village, and a natural river port. In 1866, trading began from this ...

ports. On April 16, the storm turned towards the northeast, paralleling the eastern coast of India. Around 0600 UTC, RSMC New Delhi reported that Bijli had reached its peak intensity with winds of 75 km/h (45 mph 3-minute winds). Early on April 17, RSMC New Delhi reported that Bijli had weakened to a deep depression as it moved northwest. Later, RSMC New Delhi downgraded the deep depression to a depression. Late on April 17, RSMC New Delhi reported that Depression ex-Bijli had made landfall near

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

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 ...

and had rapidly become an area of low pressure over Bangladesh. Maximum winds of 30 knots (56 km/hr) were reported in Cox's Bazar and 3 people were killed in Bangladesh. That night, the JTWC issued their final advisory on Tropical Cyclone 01B as it rapidly weakened over Bangladesh and Myanmar. Bijli developed as a depression in the first fortnight of April. Climatologically, the formation of tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal at this time of the year is rare. Only ten cyclones have developed over the Bay of Bengal during 1891–2008.

Severe Cyclonic Storm Aila

Late on May 21, the JTWC reported that a Tropical Disturbance had persisted about 515 nm to the south of

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, India. The disturbance at this time had a broad and poorly organised area of deep convection, which was located to the southeast of the low level circulation center which had consolidated into a single circulation during the previous 12 hours. Environmental analysis indicated that the system was in an area of favorable conditions to develop with low vertical wind shear and warm sea surface temperatures. During May 22 the disturbance developed further with a

being issued early the next day by the JTWC as the low level circulation center had become stronger and more defined. Later that morning RSMC New Delhi designated the disturbance as Depression BOB 02. The Cyclone crossed the West Bengal coast close to the east of Sagar Island between 0800 & 0900 UTC as a severe cyclonic storm on 25 May. A maximum wind gust of 112 km/h was recorded in Kalaikunda in West Bengal. Singlabazar recorded 320 mm of rainfall in 48 hours between 26 and 27 May.

Depression ARB 01

Early on June 21, the JTWC reported that an area of low pressure had persisted about 675 km, (420 miles), southwest of

Mumbai, India Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

. Multispectral imagery showed that the disturbance had a developing low level circulation center with convection flaring over it and was in an area of low vertical wind shear. Over the next couple of days the disturbance developed gradually with a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert being issued early on June 23 as the disturbance had continued to organize and consolidated over the past few hours. RSMC New Delhi then reported later that morning that Depression ARB 01 had formed and was expected to intensify into a Deep Depression before making landfall, however the depression did not intensify any further before making landfall on the south Gujarat coast near Diu. The JTWC then cancelled their Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert, with the IMD issuing their final advisory later that day. It hovered over Gujarat as a well marked area of low pressure before moving towards the northeast and re-emerging into the Arabian Sea where it redeveloped into a depression. Tropical Depression ARB 01 dissipated early on June 26. Unusually strong lightning storms associated with the depression killed at least nine people in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. Officials in the region warned residents about the likelihood of severe flooding from the depression. Sutrapada in Gujarat received 250 mm rainfall in 48 hours between 24 & 25 June.

Depression ARB 02

Early on June 25 at 0900 UTC, the remnants of Depression ARB 01 emerged into the

, and intensified into Depression ARB 02. The storm moved northward, weakened, and maintained its intensity as a well marked low-pressure area over Kutch and neighbouring areas at 0000 UTC on 26 June 2009. Saurashtra and Kutch experienced active monsoon conditions under the influence of this system. Like its parent system, it was mostly monitored through synoptic and satellite analysis. It was a short-lived system, existing for about 25 hours. As a result, it did not have any significant impact on rainfall, except over Saurashtra & Kutch. Moving in a north-northwesterly direction, the Depression, which was located over Saurashtra, Kutch, and neighbouring areas, which was the system, re-intensified into the depression over northeast Arabian Sea, and lay centred near lat. 22.50N/long. 68.50E about 50 km west-northwest of Dwarka and 300 km south-southeast of Karachi at 0900 UTC on 25 June. Moving slowing in a northerly direction, the system weakened into a well marked low-pressure area at 0000 UTC on 26 June over Kutch and its neighbouring regions. However, later on June 26, Depression ARB 02 dissipated completely. Mangrol in Gujarat recorded 130 mm of rainfall on 27 June.

Deep Depression BOB 03

Early on July 20, RSMC New Delhi reported that Depression BOB 03 had formed about 120 km (75 miles) to the southeast of Digha. Convection had been gradually organizing itself over the last 12 hours, and was in an area of low to moderate vertical wind shear. The Depression then intensified further and became a Deep Depression that afternoon before making landfall crossed north Orissa-West Bengal coast between Balasore and Digha during 1600 and 1700 UTC later that day. The Deep Depression gradually weakened before becoming a low-pressure area early the next day. Binika in Orissa received 220 mm rainfall on 21 July. Around 43 people lost their lives in the state of Orissa. The remnants of this storm caused heavy to very heavy downpours in coastal Pakistan.

Deep Depression BOB 04

Early on September 3, the IMD reported that an area of low pressure had formed embedded within the monsoon off the Orissa coastline. During the next day it developed further with the IMD reporting that the low-pressure area had become well marked with deep convection starting to consolidate around a developing low level circulation center in an area of moderate vertical wind shear. Early on September 5, as the area of low pressure was moving into an area of low vertical windshear the JTWC issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert, whilst the IMD reported that the low-pressure area had intensified into a Depression. Later that day the IMD reported that the depression had intensified further and had become a Deep Depression, whilst the JTWC designated the depression as a Cyclone 03B, with winds equivalent to a tropical storm. However the JTWC's first warning was also their final warning as the cyclone had made landfall near

Digha Digha is a seaside resort town in the state of West Bengal, India. It lies in Purba Medinipur district and at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal. It has a low gradient with a shallow sand beach. It is a popular sea resort in West Bengal. Hi ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

and was expected to dissipate later that day. However the IMD kept issuing advisories on the deep depression until early on September 7, when the IMD reported that it had weakened into a depression and then into a well marked low-pressure area later that day when they stopped issuing advisories on the depression whilst it was located over

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

and adjoining region of

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...

. One person drowned in Digha after being swept away by high waters. Berhampur received 210 mm of rainfall on 6 September.

Cyclonic Storm Phyan

Cyclonic Storm Phyan developed as a tropical disturbance to the southwest of Colombo in Sri Lanka late on November 4, 2009. Over the next couple of days the disturbance gradually developed before weakening as it made landfall on Southern India on November 7. After the disturbance had emerged into the Arabian Sea late on November 8 it rapidly became more marked with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) reporting early on November 9 that the disturbance had intensified into a Depression and designated it as Depression ARB 03 whilst the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert. Later that day the JTWC designated the system as Cyclone 04A. During the next day as the Depression turned towards the northeast, the IMD reported that it had intensified into a Cyclonic Storm and named it Phyan. Chandwad in Maharashtra recorded 240 mm of rainfall in 48 hours between 11 and 12 November. The maximum winds of 68 km/h were reported in Pune at the time of landfall. However the coastal areas recorded 75 km/hr winds. Seven persons died and about 44 fishermen were missing due to the cyclone. As a tropical disturbance, Phyan caused heavy rainfall in Tamil Nadu. Kethi in Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu received 82 cm of rainfall in 24 hours, beating the previous 24‑hour rainfall record for Tamil Nadu. Kethi recorded 1171 mm of rainfall in 72 hours, making Phyan the 5th wettest cyclone in India

Cyclonic Storm Ward

On December 10, RSMC New Delhi announced that Depression BOB 05 had formed, about 400 km east-southeast of

Batticaloa Batticaloa ( ta, மட்டக்களப்பு, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu''; si, මඩකලපුව, ''Maḍakalapuwa'') is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the B ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. The next day it strengthened to become Cyclonic Storm Ward. After wandering some time to the east of

, the system made landfall near

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

on December 14 as a Deep Depression. Cyclonic Storm Ward dissipated completely on December 16. Sirkali in Tamil Nadu recorded 140 mm of rainfall on 15 December. Maximum winds of 25 knots (46 km/hr) was reported at the Pamban observatory in coastal Tamil Nadu.

Season effects

This is a table of the storms in 2009 and their landfall(s), if any; the table does not include storms that did not make landfall, which is defined as the center of the storm moving over a landmass. Deaths in parentheses are additional and indirect (an example of an indirect death would be a traffic accident), but are still storm-related. Damage and deaths include totals while the storm was extratropical or a wave or low. , - , Bijli , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Eastern India, Bangladesh, Myanmar , , None , , 7 , , , - , Aila , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , India, Bangladesh , , , , 339 , , , - , ARB 01 , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , India , , None , , 9 , , , - , ARB 02 , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , India , , None , , None , , , - , BOB 03 , , July 20–21 , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , India , , None , , 43 , , , - , BOB 04 , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , India (West Bengal) , , None , , 1 , , , - , Phyan , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , India , , , , 20 , , , - , Ward , , , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , bgcolor=#, , , Sri Lanka, India , , Minimal , , Unknown , , , -

References

External links

India Meteorological Department

Joint Typhoon Warning Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:2009 North Indian Ocean Cyclone Season Articles which contain graphical timelines 2009 NIO