page_title: Cyclone Bulbul
section_title: Meteorological history
hierarchical_section_title: Cyclone Bulbul / Meteorological history
caption_attribution_description: English: Track map of Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Bulbul of the 2019 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. The points show the location of the storm at 6-hour intervals. The colour represents the storm's maximum sustained wind speeds as classified in the Saffir–Simpson scale (see below), and the shape of the data points represent the nature of the storm, according to the legend below. Saffir–Simpson scale Tropical depression≤38 mph≤62 km/h Category 3111–129 mph178–208 km/h Tropical storm39–73 mph63–118 km/h Category 4130–156 mph209–251 km/h Category 174–95 mph119–153 km/h Category 5≥157 mph≥252 km/h Category 296–110 mph154–177 km/h Unknown Storm type Tropical cyclone Subtropical cyclone Extratropical cyclone / Remnant low / Tropical disturbance / Monsoon depression
context_page_description: Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Bulbul was a strong and very damaging tropical cyclone which struck the Indian state of West Bengal as well as Bangladesh in November 2019, causing storm surge, heavy rains, and flash floods across the areas. After crossing the Indochinese Peninsula, Severe Tropical Storm Matmo's remnants entered the Andaman Sea. It began to organize over the southern Bay of Bengal in the beginning of November, then it slowly intensified into a cyclonic storm as it moved north. In addition, it is only the second to make it to hurricane strength, the first being in 1960.
context_section_description: On 28 October, a tropical depression formed near Palau, being named Matmo by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) on 30 October. It quickly intensified into a severe tropical storm, packing winds up the 60 mph (95 km/h) as it approached the Vietnamese coast. A quick moving storm, it made landfall in Vietnam on the same day, bringing strong winds and heavy rain, causing moderate flooding and many road closures in the country. Not long after landfall in Vietnam, it weakened into a tropical depression, later degenerating into a remnant low as its low-level circulation dissipated.
  On November 2, the remnants of Matmo emerged into the northern Andaman Sea. Meteorological agencies began to show interest in the system as it slowly began to reorganize and develop, with a new low-level circulation forming from it on November 4. It then fully reformed into a depression on November 5. Upon strengthening into a cyclonic storm, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) assigned the name Bulbul. It continued intensifying and increasing in speed for the next three days, however still
  slowly moving north and prompting the IMD to issue coastal warnings for Bangladesh and West Bengal of India and prohibit all fishermen activity, beach activity, and boating in and around the Bay of Bengal. About a day later, Bulbul made landfall near Sagar Island in West Bengal around 18:30 GMT on 9 November, killing at least two people and weakening back to a Severe Cyclonic Storm as it interacted with land and unleashed a high storm surge. Not too long after this land interaction, Bulbul rapidly weakened into a deep depression the next day as it began to move over Bangladesh, however still causing very heavy rains.
caption: Map plotting the track and the intensity of the storm, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
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