According to NASA, “Tropical Storm Thane formed over the Indian Ocean on December 25, 2011. By December 28, Thane had strengthened into a cyclone and was headed toward southern India. On December 28, the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) reported that Thane was located roughly 270 nautical miles (500 kilometers) southeast of Chennai. The storm had maximum sustained winds of 65 knots (120 kilometers per hour) with gusts up to 80 knots (150 kilometers per hour).”

Cyclone Thane left behind a trail of damage and took with it the lives of around 47 people, when it hit the south-eastern coast of India on the 30th of December, 2011.

I downloaded and processed 466 Infra Red Satellite images from the India Meteorological Department, and ran them at a speed of between 5-6 hrs per second. That is, 5 to 6 real-world hours passing in one second of the video. The video has two parts, the first showing the entire section of the earth that is visible to the Met satellite “Kalpana-1”. This part starts at 00:00hrs on the 25th of December, 2011, and runs till 07:00hrs (sunrise) on the 1st of January 2012. During this period, you will observe the tropical storm Thane developing into a cyclone, hitting the coastline of India on 30th December, and losing energy thereafter, and finally dying over land.

You’ll observe quite a few phenomena, apart from the cyclone itself. Another tropical storm that developed into a cyclone, “Belinde”, can also be seen taking birth in the Southern Indian Ocean. According to NASA, “Tropical Storm Benilde formed over the southern Indian Ocean on December 28, 2011. On December 30, the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) reported that Benilde, now a cyclone, was located roughly 545 nautical miles (1,010 kilometers) southeast of Diego Garcia. Benilde had maximum sustained winds of 50 knots (95 kilometers per hour) with gusts up to 65 knots (120 kilometers per hour). Benilde sports both a distinct eye and spiral shape characteristic of strong storms. The JTWC forecast that Benilde would continue moving toward the west and southwest, over the open ocean, in the next few days.”

You’ll also observe the relative temperatures of the land an sea as the sun passes overhead. This is the basis for land and sea breezes.

The second part in the video focuses only on the area covering the Indian Subcontinent.