Now an ‘extremely severe cyclonic storm,’ Tropical Cyclone Tauktae has already killed at least 12 and forced nearly 150,000 people to evacuate along India’s western coast over the past two days. The storm is the region’s first named cyclone of the year and comes as the region struggles amid a devastating wave of the novel coronavirus. It is expected to make landfall early Tuesday morning local time (Monday afternoon, ET). The storm is expected to be the worst storm to hit the region in more than two decades. As climate change heats up sea surface temperatures, it provides more fuel for more powerful cyclonic storms and thus increasing their potential intensity. (BBC, Reuters, CNN, NDTV, Times of India, New York Times $; Climate Signals background: Intense cyclonic storm frequency increase)
