Naming A Cyclone “Fani” - How Is It Done?

The Cyclone ‘Fani’ which has started its journey from South-East Bay of Bengal has finally made a landfall in Odisha after more than 10 days at sea.

How Fani Got Its Name?

Historically, the names of certain cyclones get registered in the memory of people because of their destructiveness and the vast media coverage.
The HudHud cyclone in 2014, Ockhi in 2017, Titli and Gaja in 2018 are some examples.
In general, tropical cyclones were not named. The naming began with the Hurricanes in the Atlantic with the US adopting a naming system.
The naming system for tropical cyclones in the Indian Ocean began in 2004.
Eight countries of the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea region agreed upon a rotating naming system for cyclones occurring in these seas.
The eight countries are Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Oman, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

All these are members of the group WMO/ESCAP.
The countries submitted their names which are arranged in an 8×8 table.
Each country is allocated a row and eight names are arranged and a total of 64 names will be present in the table.
The naming of the cyclone goes column-wise.
The name ‘Fani’ was proposed by Bangladesh.
The next name will be named ‘Vayu’ which is proposed by India.
Once the names in the list are exhausted, the eight countries will propose a fresh set of names.

Difference with Atlantic Naming

Unlike the Naming list of Hurricanes in the Atlantic which is rotated every few years, the name list of cyclones in the Indian Ocean is new every time.
But, there are some exceptions made to the Atlantic list.
Hurricanes that cause excessive death and destruction are retired from the list and are replaced by new ones.

Why Name Cyclones At All?

Naming a cyclone makes it easy to report it in the media.
Also, technical terms and numbers which were used earlier are difficult to communicate.

Criteria

As per the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) of Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the general public can propose a name to be included in the list.
But, it must follow certain criteria – the proposed name should not be culturally sensitive; it should be easy to communicate when broadcasted; and it should not have an inflammatory meaning.

Tropical Cyclones

Tropical Cyclones are massive rotating storm systems.
They have a low-pressure centre called the ‘eye of the storm’.
The winds in a tropical cyclone blow in a counterclockwise direction in the Northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
Coriolis force plays an important role in the formation of these cyclones.
Thus, these cyclones are formed in latitudes between 10 and 30 degree N and S of the equator.
They are not formed near the equator as the Coriolis force is zero at the equator.
A depression first emerges in the sea and then transforms into a tropical cyclone.
It then moves towards the land where there is low pressure and makes landfall.
Tropical cyclones bring with them destructive forces – high-speed winds, sea surge, and torrential rains.

Categories of Cyclones:

The IMD uses seven different classifications for cyclones within the Indian Ocean.
They are based on the sustained wind speeds of the storm system.
The classifications are as below:

‘Fani’ was classified as Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm. Second highest category classification.

East Coast and Cyclones:

In India, April to December is the cyclone season and a large number of cyclones occur between September and December.
The east coast of India is majorly impacted by the cyclones.
Especially Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha bear the brunt of cyclones occurring in the Bay of Bengal.
On the west coast, the Arabian Sea rarely generates cyclones.
This is majorly due to the wind pattern on the Bay of Bengal and a flatter topography that could not deflect a storm system on to the sea like the Western Ghats on the West Coast.

Conclusion:

Cyclones have been a major disaster causing weather events for India since time immemorial.
But the amount of disaster that the Cyclones have increased by manifold due to rising population and the infrastructure that is in the line of sight of a storm.
Climate change due to rising temperatures is becoming an important reason for the increase in the intensity of these storms.
There is no way to stop them from occurring, but governments can take precautionary measures with advanced warning systems to avoid any loss of life.
Since, the deadly tropical cyclone of 1999 which left a trail of death and devastation, India has come a long way in saving lives and minimizing the death toll.
Now, governments have to improve upon post-disaster response in the speedy clearing of debris and allowing the public to pursue their livelihoods at the earliest.