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    • Cyclone Mocha headed for landfall in war-ravaged country
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    Cyclone Mocha headed for landfall in war-ravaged country

    Narwhal19 Posted on
    Cyclone Mocha: Microwave satellite view of storms in Indian Ocean with pink swirl over Bay of Bengal.
    This image shows the development of the storm Mocha – in the Bay of Bengal – from May 10 to 11. The storm is headed for landfall in Myanmar and Bangladesh on Sunday, May 14. The pink swirl to the west of India is the tropical depression becoming Cyclone Mocha. Note the zero line of latitude; that’s Earth’s equator. And note the storm below Mocho – south of the equator – spinning in the opposite direction from Mocha. Storms in Earth’s Northern and Southern Hemispheres spin oppositely … counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. This effect is due to Earth’s rotation, and to what’s called the Coriolis effect. This satellite view is Morphed Integrated Microwave Imagery from the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

    Mocha to hit Myanmar and Bangladesh

    Meteorologists expect tropical cyclone Mocha to make landfall around noon on Sunday, May 14, 2023, in northern Myanmar (formerly Burma), near the border with Bangladesh. The India Meteorological Department said on Friday that the storm could pack winds as strong as 160 kilometers per hour (100 mph) with higher gusts. And this low-lying region has a high population, including many refugees. Myanmar has been in turmoil since 2017, when the government began killing and brutalizing the local Rohingya population, forcing them to flee to Bangladesh where many still live in refugee camps.

    The tropical cyclone, also called a typhoon, will bring heavy rains to the area. This region – Bangladesh in particular – lies very close to sea level. So, the low-lying nature of the landscape will exacerbate the flooding issue. The average elevation of Bangladesh is 9 meters (30 feet) above sea level, and the country has a population of about 170 million people. Myanmar’s population is about 54 million. It has mountainous regions, but heavy rainfall could result in landslides.

    As the Weather Channel explained:

    The Bay of Bengal hosts only 4% of the total tropical cyclones globally, but more than 80% of the fatalities to cyclones are from this region.

    Green shaded map showing Bangladesh, Myanmar and surrounding countries.
    This terrain map of Bangladesh and Myanmar shows the low-lying areas that Cyclone Mocha will hit on May 14, 2023. Image via Google Maps.

    Cyclone Mocha on Twitter

    Bottom line: Tropical cyclone Mocha will hit Bangladesh and Myanmar on Sunday, May 14, 2023. Unfortunately, this low-lying region is particularly vulnerable, and the area has a high population that includes many Rohingya refugees.

    Read more: Tropical Cyclone Freddy sets world record for longevity

    Read more: Twin cyclones mirror each other in Indian Ocean

    Kelly Kizer Whitt

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    About the Author:

    Kelly Kizer Whitt has been a science writer specializing in astronomy for more than two decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine, and she has made regular contributions to AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club, among other outlets. Her children’s picture book, Solar System Forecast, was published in 2012. She has also written a young adult dystopian novel titled A Different Sky. When she is not reading or writing about astronomy and staring up at the stars, she enjoys traveling to the national parks, creating crossword puzzles, running, tennis, and paddleboarding. Kelly lives with her family in Wisconsin.

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