From Sandy to Nilam: Can a cyclone be named after you?

From Laila, to Nilam to Onil… have you ever wondered how a cyclone is really named? Well, it’s not random at all. The practice of naming storms (tropical cyclones) began years ago in order to help in the quick identification of storms in warning messages because names are presumed to be far easier to remember than the numbers and technical terms. The recent cyclonic storm Nilam which is threatening to cause havoc across Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh coasts has been christened as Nilam by Pakistan as per the cyclone naming procedure. How the naming of cyclones began [caption id=“attachment_509907” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Waves lashing at the Marina Beach in Chennai. Firstpost[/caption] In the beginning, storms were named arbitrarily. Then the mid-1900’s saw the start of the practice of using feminine names for storms. In the pursuit of a more organised and efficient naming system, meteorologists later decided to identify storms using names from a list arranged alphabetically. Thus, a storm with a name which begins with A, like Anne, would be the first storm to occur in the year. Before the end of 1900’s, forecasters started using male names for those forming in the Southern Hemisphere. Since 1953, Atlantic tropical storms have been named from lists originated by the National Hurricane Center. They are now maintained and updated by an international committee of the World Meteorological Organisation. In general, tropical cyclones are named according to the rules at a regional level. For instance, Hurricane Committee determines a pre-designated list of Hurricane names. As an example 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 is the top of the next list. But naming of tropical cyclones over north Indian Ocean is slightly different.  The WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones at its twenty-seventh Session held in 2000 in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman agreed in principal to assign names to the tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea. After long deliberations among the member countries, the naming of the tropical cyclones over north Indian Ocean commenced from September 2004. • The Panel member’s name are listed alphabetically country wise. • The name will be used sequentially column wise. • The first name will start from the first row of column one and continue sequentially to the last row in column eight. Example, this will be as Onil, Hibaru, Pyar, Baaz …………. Amphan • The names which have been already used from the list are highlighted. These lists are used sequentially, and they are not rotated every few years as are the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific lists. Do you want to name a cyclone? If you want to suggest the name of a cyclone to be included in the list, the proposed name must meet some fundamental criteria. The name should be short and readily understood when broadcast. Also, the names must not be culturally sensitive and not convey some unintended and potentially inflammatory meaning. You may try sending your suggested name to Director General of Meteorology, India Meteorological Department, for consideration. More details here.