Frequency of Bay of Bengal cyclonic storms and depressions crossing different coastal zones

All the storms and depressions that formed in the Bay of Bengal during 1974-99 have been analysed. The number of occurrences in July is not in harmony with that of other months of the monsoon. Regions stricken are taken into account on a monthly, seasonal and annual basis. The Indian coast faces almost an equal number of storms and depressions that are formed from June to November. The most vulnerable months for storms are May, October and November for Bangladesh; May for Myanmar; June, August and September for Kolkata-Vishakhapatnam in India and October and November for Vishakhapatnam-Tamilnadu in India. Most of the monsoon depressions cross the Kolkata-Vishakhapatnam coast of India. The frequency of formation has been observed to decrease during the period of analysis. It is also observed that the frequency distribution of the Bay of Bengal storms has two peaks: one in the month of May and the other in the month of November. Copyright (C) 2003 Royal Meteorological Society.