Context

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) released a detailed list of names of tropical cyclones over north Indian Ocean, including the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean.

About

• Indian Meteorological Department was established in the year 1875 with its headquarters at Calcutta.
• The headquarter was shifted to Shimla in 1905, to Pune in 1928 and then to Delhi in 1944.
• Worldwide, there are six Regional Specialised Meteorological Centres (RSMCs) and five regional Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs) which issue advisories and names of tropical cyclones.
• The IMD is one of the six RSMCs to provide tropical cyclone and storm surge advisories to 13 member nations, which include Bangladesh, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the UAE and Yemen.

The new list:

• The list comprises names of 13 cyclones each for the 13 member countries, totaling to 169.
• The names for India include Gati, Tej, Murasu, Aag, Vyom, Jhar, Probaho, Neer, Prabhanjan, Ghurni, Ambud, Jaladhi and Vega.
• Some of the names for Bangladesh are Nisarga, Biparjoy, Arnab and Upakul.
• Tropical cyclones forming over different ocean basins are named by the concerned RSMCs & TCWCs.
• For north Indian Ocean, including Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, the RSMC, New Delhi, assigns the name to tropical cyclones following a standard procedure, an IMD release stated.

What are Tropical Cyclones?

• Tropical cyclones, also known as typhoons or hurricanes, are among the most destructive weather phenomena.
• They are intense circular storms that originate over warm tropical oceans, and have maximum sustained wind speeds exceeding 119 kilometres per hour and heavy rains.
• However, the greatest damage to life and property is not from the wind, but from secondary events such as storm surges, flooding, landslides and tornadoes.
• Tropical cyclones are referred to by different names depending on where they originate in the world.
• Hurricanes occur in the Atlantic Ocean and the eastern north Pacific Ocean.
• Typhoons occur in the western Pacific Ocean.
• Tropical cyclones occur in the south Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean.

What is the need to give name to cyclones?

• Naming of Tropical Cyclones helps the scientific community, disaster managers, media and general masses to:
  • identify each individual cyclone.
  • create awareness of its development.
  • remove confusion in case of simultaneous occurrence of TCs over a region
  • remember a TC easily
  • rapidly and effectively disseminate warnings to much wider audience