Cyclone Vardah

Very Severe Cyclonic Storm Vardah (/ˈvɑːrdə/) was the fourth cyclonic storm, as well as the most intense tropical cyclone of the 2016 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. The system struck the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and South India before its remnants later led to the formation of Depression ARB 02 in the Arabian Sea.

Originating as a low-pressure area near the Malay Peninsula on 3 December, the storm was designated a depression on 6 December. It gradually intensified into a Deep Depression on the following day, skirting off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and intensified into a Cyclonic Storm on 8 December. Maintaining a generally westward track thereafter, Vardah consolidated into a Severe Cyclonic Storm on 9 December, before peaking as a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm, with 3-minute sustained winds of 80 mph (130 km/h), and a minimum central pressure of 975 hPa (28.8 inHg), on 11 December. Weakening into a Severe Cyclonic Storm, Vardah made landfall close to Chennai on the following day, and degenerated into remnant low on 13 December. The next day, its remnants emerged in the Arabian Sea, where it eventually led to the formation of Depression ARB 02 on 17 December, a separate system according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), that lasted until early 18 December.