Who named cyclone Asani; what about Aila, Amphan? Details here

The Indian Meteorological Department on Sunday said cyclone Asani is expected to grow into a "severe cyclonic storm" in the next 12 hours. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has put on alert its employees and disaster management teams in view of the formation of cyclonic storm Asani, mayor Firhad Hakim said.

He said the leaves of all employees concerned are being cancelled to deal with any emergency evolving due to the cyclone, which he said is unlikely to hit the city but will bring heavy rains in its wake.

He said taking lessons from the devastating effects of Amphan super cyclone in May 2020, the KMC administration is taking all measures such as keeping cranes, electric saws and earthmovers on standby to clear blockades caused by fallen trees and other debris.

The IMD has forecast that Asani, on reaching westcentral and adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal off north Andhra-Odisha coasts on Tuesday, is very likely to recurve north-northeast wards and move towards northwest Bay of Bengal off Odisha coast

The severe cyclonic storm is very likely to lose some steam thereafter and turn into a cyclonic storm on Wednesday and further dissipate into a deep depression by Thursday.

Every year, as a cyclone looms over a region, its name becomes a cause of intrigue for many, who wonder why and how is the storm christened.

What is Asani?

With Cyclone Asani -- a name given by Sri Lanka that means 'wrath' in Sinhalese -- formed in the Bay of Bengal on Sunday morning and hurtling towards the east coast, the same question pops up again.

Who names cyclones?

Each tropical storm is given a name to avoid confusion, facilitating disaster risk awareness, management and mitigation. Short and easy-to-pronounce names are helpful in rapidly and effectively disseminating detailed storm information between hundreds of scattered stations, coastal bases and ships at sea.

It is less subject to error than the older and more cumbersome latitude-longitude identification methods.

Since 1953, Atlantic tropical storms have been named from lists prepared by the National Hurricane Center in the US.

In the beginning, storms were named arbitrarily. From the mid-1900s, feminine names started to be used for storms. Meteorologists decided later to name storms from a list for a more organised and efficient system, the WMO stated on its website.

Panel on tropical cyclones

> There are six Regional Specialised Meteorological Centres (RSMCs) worldwide and five regional Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres, which are mandated for issuing advisories and naming cyclonic storms, according to the ministry of earth science.

> The IMD is one of the RSMCs and is tasked with giving a title to a cyclone that forms over the northern Indian Ocean when they have reached a maximum sustained surface wind speed of 62 kmph or more.

> The naming of cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea started in September 2004. The IMD provides cyclone and storm surge advisories to 13 countries across the north Indian Ocean.

Criteria adopted for selection of names by the PTC member countries:

> The proposed name should be neutral to (a) politics and political figures (b) religious beliefs, (c) cultures and (d) gender.

> The name should be chosen in such a way that it does not hurt the sentiments of any group of the 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 along with its pronunciation and voice over.

> The panel reserves the right to reject any name if any of the criteria above is not satisfied.

> The finalised names may also be reviewed during the course of time of implementation with the approval of PTC in its annual session, in case any reasonable objection is raised by any member.

> 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. It should not be there in the already existing list of any of the RSMCs worldwide including RSMC, New Delhi.

Names from India

In 2020, a new list was released with 169 names, including 13 names each from 13 countries. Earlier, eight countries had given 64 designations.

Names from India that have been used include Gati (speed), Megh (cloud), Akash (sky). Other designations that have been used earlier included Ogni, Helen and Fani from Bangladesh; and Laila, Nargis and Bulbul from Pakistan.

The cyclone that will form after Asani will be called Sitrang, a name was given by Thailand.

The names that will be used in the future include the likes of Ghurni, Probaho, Jhar and Murasu from India, Biparjoy (Bangladesh), Asif (Saudi Arabia), Diksam (Yemen) and Toofan (Iran) and Shakhti (Sri Lanka).

(With inputs from PTI. ANI)