Super Cyclone Amphan •Cyclone Amphan is a tropical cyclone formed over the Bay of Bengal that has intensified and likely to turn into a “super cyclonic storm (maximum wind speed is 224 kmph)”. •It has been named by Thailand. •Amphan is the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir- Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. •By the time it makes landfall in West Bengal, Amphan is expected to tone down into a category 4 Extremely Severe Cyclonic (ESC) storm with a wind speed of 165-175 kmph and gusting to 195 kmph. What makes it a nightmare? •This is the first super cyclone to form in the Bay of Bengal after the 1999 super cyclone that hit Odisha and claimed more than 10,000 lives. •It is the third super cyclone to occur in the North Indian Ocean region after 1999 which comprises of the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the northern part of the Indian Ocean. •The other two super cyclones were Cyclone Kyarr in 2019 and Cyclone Gonu in 2007 Recent cyclones in the region •From 1965 to 2017, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea collectively registered 46 ‘severe cyclonic storms’. •More than half of them occurred between October and December. •Seven of them occurred in May and only two (in 1966 and 1976) were recorded in April, according to data from the IMDs cyclone statistics unit. •Cyclone Phailin in 2013 and the super cyclone of 1999 — both of which hit coastal Odisha — have been the most powerful cyclones in the Bay of Bengal in the past two decades in terms of wind speed. •Last year, Fani, which was an ESC made landfall in Odisha and ravaged the State, claiming at least 40 lives. .