MPPSC 2025 Prelims Q18: Which of these cyclones affected the coastal region of

Q: What is the answer to MPPSC 2025 Prelims Q18?

D. Correct — D, Fengal. Cyclonic Storm Fengal formed over the south-west Bay of Bengal and crossed the north Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coast close to Puducherry on the night of 30 November 2024, with the landfall process continuing into 1 December. It brought exceptionally heavy rain and severe flooding to Puducherry and the Villupuram-Cuddalore-Chennai belt. The name 'Fengal' was contributed by Saudi Arabia to the North Indian Ocean naming list.

MPPSC 2025 Prelims Paper-I · Question 18 of 100

Verified against the official question paper. Answer as per the official MPPSC answer key.

Which of these cyclones affected the coastal region of Tamil Nadu during November - December, 2024 ?

(a)Asna
(b)Dana
(c)Biparjoy
(d)Fengal

Answer

Why

Correct — D, Fengal. Cyclonic Storm Fengal formed over the south-west Bay of Bengal and crossed the north Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coast close to Puducherry on the night of 30 November 2024, with the landfall process continuing into 1 December. It brought exceptionally heavy rain and severe flooding to Puducherry and the Villupuram-Cuddalore-Chennai belt. The name 'Fengal' was contributed by Saudi Arabia to the North Indian Ocean naming list.

Why the others are wrong

(a)Asna — An unusual Arabian Sea cyclone of late August 2024 that developed out of a land depression over Kutch and moved out to sea off the Gujarat-Pakistan coast — the wrong sea and nowhere near Tamil Nadu. The name was given by Pakistan.
(b)Dana — A severe cyclonic storm that crossed the Odisha coast between Bhitarkanika and Dhamra on the night of 24-25 October 2024 — right ocean and right year, but the wrong coast and the wrong month.
(c)Biparjoy — A June 2023 Arabian Sea cyclone that made landfall near Jakhau port in Kutch, Gujarat — wrong sea and wrong year. The name was given by Bangladesh.

Concept

Tropical cyclones over the North Indian Ocean are named from a common list maintained by the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones, to which each of its 13 member countries contributes names; the India Meteorological Department's New Delhi centre, a Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre, assigns the name and issues warnings for the whole basin. The Bay of Bengal produces far more landfalling storms than the Arabian Sea, and the post-monsoon window of October-December is the season in which Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha are most often hit.

A current-affairs cyclone question is really a 'which sea, which coast, which year' question. Keep two columns in memory. Bay of Bengal: Fengal (Puducherry-Tamil Nadu, Nov-Dec 2024), Dana (Odisha, Oct 2024), Remal (West Bengal-Bangladesh, May 2024), Michaung (Andhra Pradesh, Dec 2023). Arabian Sea: Asna (off Gujarat, Aug 2024), Biparjoy (Kutch, June 2023), Tauktae (Gujarat, May 2021).

Key facts

Cyclone Fengal crossed the coast near Puducherry on the night of 30 November 2024; the name was contributed by Saudi Arabia.
North Indian Ocean cyclones are named by the 13-member WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones; IMD New Delhi is the RSMC that issues the names and warnings.
October-December is the main cyclone season for the Tamil Nadu-Andhra coast; the other peak is pre-monsoon, April-June.
India's other named cyclones in 2024: Remal (May, West Bengal/Bangladesh), Asna (August, Arabian Sea) and Dana (October, Odisha).

Study next

Conditions for tropical cyclone formation — sea surface temperature above about 26.5°C, Coriolis force, low vertical wind shearStructure of a cyclone: eye, eyewall, spiral rain bands, storm surgeIMD's cyclone intensity classification and colour-coded warning systemWhy the Bay of Bengal has more cyclones than the Arabian Sea — and why Arabian Sea activity is risingNDMA cyclone preparedness, early warning systems and the fall in cyclone mortality in India

Common traps

Matching a cyclone to the wrong sea — Asna and Biparjoy are Arabian Sea systems, not Bay of Bengal ones
Mixing years — Biparjoy is 2023, Tauktae is 2021, Fengal and Dana are 2024
Assuming India names all North Indian Ocean cyclones — the names come from the 13-country panel list, in rotation

MPPSC repeatedly asks 'which cyclone struck coast X in year Y' (2024 asked about Tauktae, 2025 about Fengal); UPSC prefers the physics — genesis conditions, the eye, and why cyclones do not form in the South Atlantic.

Related PYQs

UPSC_1995_GS1_Q531995Open & attempt →

Willy Willy is

(a) a type of tree grown in temperate regions
(b) a wind that blows in a desert
(c) a tropical cyclone of north-west Australia
(d) a kind of common fish found near Lakshadweep islands

Answer(c) a tropical cyclone of north-west Australia

Same node — what tropical cyclones are called in different basins: UPSC tested the regional name (Willy-Willy, north-west Australia), MPPSC tests the WMO/ESCAP list name given to a Bay of Bengal storm.

MPPSC_2024_PRE_PaperI_Q782024Open & attempt →

From the following, which cyclone struck the western coast of India in the year 2021?

(a) Amphan
(b) Tauktae
(c) Michaung
(d) Fani

Answer(b) Tauktae

The same question pattern one year earlier — match a named cyclone to the coast and year it struck; here the Arabian Sea counterpart (Tauktae, west coast, 2021).

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Cyclone Dana (October 2024) made landfall on the coast of which state?
- (a)West Bengal
- (b)Odisha
- (c)Andhra Pradesh
- (d)Tamil Nadu
Answer(b) Odisha — it crossed between Bhitarkanika and Dhamra on the night of 24-25 October 2024.
practice — not a real PYQ
Names for tropical cyclones over the North Indian Ocean are drawn from a list finalised by:
- (a)the India Meteorological Department alone
- (b)the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones
- (c)the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
- (d)the country that the cyclone strikes first
Answer(b) the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones — its 13 member countries contribute the names, and IMD New Delhi (the RSMC) assigns them in sequence.