Twin cyclones spinning in the Indian Ocean
Today’s Image of the Day from NASA Earth Observatory features a pair of tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean. Tropical Cyclone Asani can be seen north of the equator, while Tropical Cyclone Karim is located south of the equator west of Australia.
“The twin cyclones were spinning at roughly the same distance from the equator, but in opposite directions,” reports NASA.
“A cyclone’s winds spin counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere but clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere due to the Coriolis effect – a force driven by Earth’s rotation that deflects prevailing winds in one direction in the Northern Hemisphere and the opposite direction in the Southern Hemisphere.”
On May 8, Tropical Cyclone Asani had maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) predicts that the storm will weaken as it approaches southern India and will curve northeast, which will keep the storm offshore along the Andhra Pradesh-Odisha coast.
Tropical Cyclone Karim has wind speeds that are equivalent to a category 1 hurricane, and is expected to weaken. This storm could affect the Cocos Islands, a chain of coral islands with a population of 600, according to NASA.
The image was captured on May 8, 2022 by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on NOAA-20.
Image Credit: NASA Earth Observatory
–—
By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer
