Super Cyclonic Storm Amphan was a powerful tropical cyclone which caused widespread damage over East India and Bangladesh in May 2020. It was the strongest tropical cyclone to strike the Ganges Delta since Cyclone Sidr of the 2007 season and the first super cyclonic storm to occur in the Bay of Bengal since the 1999 Odisha cyclone.
The first tropical cyclone of the 2020 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, Amphan originated from a low-pressure area persisting a couple hundred miles east of Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 13 May 2020. Tracking northeastward, the disturbance organized over exceptionally warm sea surface temperatures; the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) upgraded the system to a tropical depression on 15 May while the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) followed suit the following day. On 17 May, Amphan underwent rapid intensification and became an extremely severe cyclonic storm within 12 hours.
On 18 May, at approximately 12:00 UTC, Amphan reached its peak intensity with 3-minute sustained wind speeds of 130 knots (150 mph; 240 km/h), 1-minute sustained wind speeds of 140 knots (160 mph; 260 km/h), and a minimum central barometric pressure of 925 mbar (27.32 inHg). The storm began an eyewall replacement cycle shortly after it reached its peak intensity, but the continued effects of dry air and wind shear disrupted this process and caused Amphan to gradually weaken as it paralleled the eastern coastline of India. On 20 May, between 10:00 and 11:00 UTC, the cyclone made landfall in West Bengal. At the time, the JTWC estimated Amphan's 1-minute sustained winds at 85 knots (100 mph; 155 km/h). Amphan rapidly weakened once inland, and it became a remnant low by 12:00 UTC on 21 May 2020.
Coastal areas in Odisha—as well as Kolkata, Hoogly, Howrah, East Midnapur, North, and South 24 Parganas in West Bengal—were affected by the cyclone. It also caused significant destruction in Bangladesh.
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