4. What are Cyclones?
"Cyclone" is an intense whirl in the atmosphere with very
strong winds circulating around it in anti-clockwise direction
in the Northern Hemisphere and in clockwise direction in the
Southern Hemisphere.
Word "Cyclone" is derived from the Greek, word "Cyclos"
meaning the coils of a snake.
5. TROPICAL CYCLONE TRACKS FOR THE WORLD
Tropical cyclones form over tropical waters at least 80°F but not near the the equator. They
move around the large subtropical high pressure areas and can leave the tropics.
6. NAME - PLACES
• Hurricane - Atlantic and Eastern Pacific
• Typhoon - Western Pacific
• Willy-Willies - Australian sea
• Baguis - Philippines
7. Tropical cyclones are named to provide ease of
communication between forecasters and the general public
regarding forecasts, watches, and warnings.
Sometimes storms can often last a week or longer
Names can reduce the confusion about what storm is being
described, as more than one can occur in the same region at
the same time.
NEED or PURPOSE
8. It would help identify each individual tropical cyclone.
It helps the public to become fully aware of its development.
It does not confuse the public when there is more than one
tropical cyclone in the same area.
Warnings reach a much wider audience very rapidly.
Importance for naming tropical cyclones:
9. Initially, people living in the Caribbean Islands would
name the storms after the saint of the day from the Roman
Catholic liturgical calendar for the day on which the
hurricane/cyclone occurred. The credit for the first usage of
personal names for weather systems, is generally given to the
Queensland Government Meteorologist Clement Wragge, who
named systems between 1887-1907. Wragge used names drawn
from the letters of the Greek alphabet, Greek and Roman
mythology and female names, to describe weather systems over
Australia, New Zealand and the Antarctic.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
10. In 1953, the US weather service officially adopted
the idea and created a new phonetic alphabet (international) of
women's names from A to W, leaving out Q, U, X, Y and Z.
Subsequent protests by women's liberation bodies in the 60s
and 70s helped change the naming procedure for the storms to
include male names in 1978. r
The year's first tropical storm was given the name
beginning with the letter "A", the second with the letter "B" and
so on through the alphabet. In even-numbered years, odd-
numbered storms got men's names and in odd-numbered years,
odd numbered storms got women's names. w
11. There is a strict procedure to determine a list of
tropical cyclone names in an ocean basin(s) by the Tropical
Cyclone Regional Body responsible for that basin(s) at its
annual/biennial meeting. There are five tropical cyclones
regional bodies,
1) ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee,
2) WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones,
3) RA I Tropical Cyclone Committee,
4) RA IV Hurricane Committee, and
5) RA V Tropical Cyclone Committee.
Procedure for Naming of Tropical Cyclone
13. These RSMCs monitors and predicts the tropical
cyclones over their respective regions. They are also
responsible to name the cyclones.
For North Atlantic Ocean six lists are used in rotation. Thus,
the 2008 list will be used again in 2014.
For the Eastern north Pacific Ocean the lists are also re-
cycled every six years (the 2008 list will be used again in
2014).
For Central north Pacific Ocean the names are used one
after the other. When the bottom of one list is reached, the
next name s the top of the next list. s
14. INDIAN OCEAN TROPICAL CYCLONE NAMES
For the Indian Ocean region, deliberations for naming cyclones
began in 2000 and a formula was agreed upon in 2004. Eight countries
in the region - Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand - all contributed a set of names
which are assigned sequentially whenever a cyclonic storm develops
For the north Indian Ocean basin, the WMO/ESCAP Panel on
Tropical Cyclones (PTC) for the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea is the
responsible regional body.
15. The eight north Indian Ocean countries have prepared a list
of 64 names for the cyclones. This is a one-time use list of names.
When the last name of List 8 has been assigned, a new list will be
drawn up by the ESCAP/WMO panel.
Procedure:
1) The Panel member’s name are listed alphabetically country wise.
2) The name will be used sequentially column wise.
3) The first name will start from the first row of column one and
continue sequentially to the last row in column eight.
4) The names which have been already used from the list are
highlighted
16. North Indian Ocean
Contributor List 1 List 2 List 3 List 4
Bangladesh Onil Ogni Nisha Giri
India Agni Akash Bijli Jal
Maldives Hibaru Gonu Aila Kella
Mayanmar Pyarr Yemyin Phyan Thane
Oman Baaz Sidr Ward Murjan
Pakistan Fanoos Nargis Laila Nilam
Sri Lanka Mala Abe Bandu Mahasen
Thailand Mukda Khai Muk Phet Phailin
The list of tropical cyclone names for the north Indian Ocean is given
below.
17. Contributor List 5 List 6 List 7 List 8
Bangladesh Helen Chapala Ockhi Fani
India Lehar Megh Sagar Vayu
Maldives Madi Vaali Baazu Hikaa
Mayanmar Nanauk Kyant Daye Kyarr
Oman Hudhud Nada Luban Maha
Pakistan Nilofar Vardah Titli Bulbul
Sri Lanka Priya Sama Das Soba
Thailand Komen Mora Phethai Amphan
18. The RSMC tropical cyclones New Delhi gives a tropical
cyclone an identification name from the above name list.
Tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal, located north of the Indian Ocean, is
responsible for the formation of some of the strongest and
deadliest tropical cyclones in the world. The basin is abbreviated
BOB by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the official
Regional Specialized Meteorological Center of the basin. The
Bay of Bengal's coast is shared among India, Bangladesh,
Myanmar, Sri Lanka and western part of Thailand.
19. The name should be short and readily understood when
broadcast. Further the names must not be culturally sensitive and not
convey some unintended and potentially inflammatory meaning.
The suggested name pertaining to India may be communicated to
Director General of Meteorology, India Meteorological Department,
Mausam Bhawan, Lodi Road, New Delhi-110003 for consideration
CRITERIA
20. Names of some storms that cause widespread damage and
deaths are usually retired and are not brought back or reused later, at
least for 10 years. These names are then replaced with new names.
The names are retired as a mark of respect to the dead. Once a name
is officially retired, it is then replaced with a name of the same gender
and beginning with the same letter. So far, since 1972, there have
been 50 names that have been retired. And, since the names in the
beginning of the alphabet get used more than those at the end, it's
more likely that those will be retired names first.
Retirement
