Nomenclature of Cyclone

What is a cyclone?

According to meteorology, cyclone is a large scale of mass that rotates around a strong centre of low atmospheric pressure. It is characterised by strong winds, thunderstorms and heavy rainfall.

Cyclogenesis is the process of cyclone formation and intensification.
Extratropical cyclones begin as waves in large regions of enhanced mid-latitude temperature contrasts called baroclinic zones.
When a storm develops over the Indian ocean, it is referred to as tropical cyclones or severe cyclonic storms.
Cyclones have also been seen on extra-terrestrial planets, such as Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune.

Amphan is a severe cyclonic storm that is set to hit the coast of West Bengal's Digha and Hatia Islands of Bangladesh during the afternoon or evening of May 20. It also touches some districts of Odisha. The tropical cyclone had intensified into a super cyclonic storm between May 17 and 18, according to IMD. At least 19 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in West Bengal in view of the approaching cyclone.

Why is it important to name cyclones?

Adopting names for cyclones makes it easier for people to remember, as opposed to numbers and technical terms. Apart from the general public, it also helps the scientific community, the media, disaster managers etc. With a name, it is easy to identify individual cyclones, create awareness of its development, rapidly disseminate warnings to increased community preparedness and remove confusion where there are multiple cyclonic systems over a region.

Tropical cyclones and subtropical cyclones are named by various warning centres to provide ease of communication between forecasters and people regarding warnings and forecasts. The names are aimed to reduce confusion in case of multiple storms in the same basin.

How are the cyclones named?

In 2000, a group of nations called WMO/ESCAP (World Meteorological Organisation/United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific), which comprised Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand, decided to start naming cyclones in the region. After each country sent in suggestions, the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones (PTC) finalised the list.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) recently released a list of 169 names of future tropical cyclones that would emerge in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.

Cyclones that form in every ocean basin across the world are named by the regional specialised meteorological centres (RSMCs) and Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs). There are six RSMCs in the world, including the India Meteorological Department (IMD), and five TCWCs.

The list of 169 cyclone names released by IMD last month, in April, were provided by these countries — 13 suggestions from each of the 13 countries. The new list included the last name from the previous list Amphan.

*The last cyclone Fani was named by Bangladesh.

Guidelines:

While picking names for cyclones, here are some of the rules that countries need to follow. If these guidelines are following, the name is accepted by the panel on tropical cyclones (PTC) that finalises the selection:

The proposed name should be neutral to

(a) politics and political figures

(b) religious believes

(d) gender

* Name should be chosen in such a way that it does not hurt the sentiments of any group of population over the globe
* It should not be very rude and cruel in nature
* It should be short, easy to pronounce and should not be offensive to any member
* The maximum length of the name will be eight letters
* The proposed name should be provided with its pronunciation and voice over
* The names of tropical cyclones over the north Indian Ocean will not be repeated. Once used, it will cease to be used again. Thus, the name should be new.

Cyclone names that India suggested: -

The 13 names in the recent list that have been suggested by India include: Gati, Tej, Murasu, Aag, Vyom, Jhar, Probaho, Neer, Prabhanjan, Ghurni, Ambud, Jaladhi and Vega.

Some of the names picked by India were suggested by the general public. An IMD committee is formed to finalise the names before sending it to the PTC.

Here is the complete list of 169 names. The first cyclone name which will be chosen will be the one in the first row of the first column — Nisarga by Bangladesh.

Once the bottom of the column is reached, the sequence moves to the top of the next column.