Phailin, Helen, Haiyan, Lehar and the rest get their names from a list specific to their region
We all must have often wondered
from where cyclones, typhoons or tropical storms get their names. Here
is a brief insight into why and how cyclones are named.
The practice of naming tropical storms began years ago with the
motive to help in quick and error-free identification of cyclones in
warning messages and to make it easier for media, which
otherwise had to
use numbers for longitudes and latitudes and other technical terms.
Many also agree that the use of names also heightens interest in
warnings and increases community preparedness.
A cyclone, typhoon and hurricane are all the same but are called
differently in different parts of the world. Hurricane is a term used
in Eastern Pacific belt while typhoon is used in Northern Pacific Ocean
and the term cyclone is used in the South Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean
regions.
From the past
Initially, cyclones were named after the places where they caused the
most damage. Past records show that it was in the mid 1900's that the
practice of using feminine names like Edna, Florence, Gilda, Hazel,
Irene, Jill and Katherine for storms was adopted. Later, to make the
process of naming storms more organised, meteorologists decided to
identify storms using names from a list arranged alphabetically and
accepted internationally. It was in 1973 that the forecasters started
using male names for those forming in the Southern Hemisphere.
The process of naming cyclones is conducted by regional bodies, each
known as Tropical Cyclone Regional Body, and is kept under the aegis of
the World Meteorological Organization, a UN body. At present, there are
five regional bodies, classified on basis of five ocean basins, and each
body follows a strict procedure to annually or biennially determine a
list of tropical storms which originate in the basin assigned to them.
The names in the lists are proposed and decided by the members of the
regional bodies.
While some regions have decided to repeat the lists after a fixed
period of time, some use the lists only once and move on to the next
list. World Meteorological Organization has decided that the selected
tropical cyclone names should be familiar to the people in each region.
The Indian Ocean perspective
For the Indian Ocean region, the process of naming storms is as
recent as 2004. After a series of deliberations, eight countries in the
region contributed a few names to the list given below.
According to the list shown above, the first cyclone which occurred
in the Indian Ocean in 2004 was named Onil. The second cyclone to hit
the Indian Ocean was named Agni, a name submitted by India. Since then,
the cyclones have been named according to the list approved by the
regional body with the recent one being Cyclone Lehar. The above list
clearly suggests that the next cyclone /storm will be called Madi (a
name suggested by Maldives).
