Bay of Bengal, fomenting Yaas, hotter than usual

The formation of storms in this period is not favourable for drawing in the monsoon into the Andamans and subsequently onto the Kerala coast.

Climate scientists say the Bay of Bengal, where , is at least two degrees warmer than what is normal for this time of the year. “The north Bay of Bengal is exceptionally warm with temperatures up to 32C. Distance to landfall is short, preventing it from drawing that energy and intensifying into an extremely severe cyclone,” Roxy Koll, climate scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, said on Twitter. Generally, cyclones in the Bay of Bengal are ferocious and cause significant devastation. Cyclone Amphan was a super cyclone that ravaged West Bengal in March last year. It was the strongest storm that hit India's eastern coast since the super cyclone of 1999, that struck Paradip, Odisha. Before Amphan, cyclone Fani in 2019 also hit Odisha, causing immense damage that lasted weeks. Cyclones in the Bay of Bengal are not unexpected in May and result from increased ocean surface temperatures. The formation of storms in this period is not favourable for drawing in the monsoon into the Andamans and subsequently onto the Kerala coast.