IMD releases new list of 169 names of tropical cyclones over north Indian Ocean

30 April 2020.

Introduction:

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on 28^th April 2020 released a new list with the names of 169 tropical cyclones that are likely to emerge over the north Indian Ocean, including the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean.

About IMD:

• The IMD is one of the six Regional Specialised Meteorological Centres (RSMCs) set up across the globe, along with five regional Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs) that are given the task of issuing advisories and names of tropical cyclones.
• IMD issues advisories regarding upcoming tropical cyclones to 13 member nations, including Bangladesh, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the UAE and Yemen.
• The tropical cyclones forming over different Ocean basins are named by the concerned RSMCs & TCWCs.
•  For North Indian Ocean including the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, the RSMC, New Delhi assigns the name to tropical cyclones following a standard procedure.
• During the last i.e 45^th session of WMO/ ESCAP held in September 2018 in Oman it was decided to have fresh list of tropical cyclones.
• IMD chief M Mohapatra in September 2019 presented the final list which has been approved recently during the subsequent meet that was organized in Myanmar.

New Names:

• The list contains the names of 13 cyclones for the 13 member countries out of the total 169 names.
• The names of cyclones that may emerge in the future in India are Gati, Tej, Murasu, Aag, Vyom, Jhar, Probaho, Neer, Prabhanjan, Ghurni, Ambud, Jaladhi and Vega.
• Some other names include  Biparjoy, Arnab and Upakul.
• The list also includes names such as Nisarga for Bangladesh and Nivar for Iran.
• The new names were contributed by 13 member countries of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) / United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) panel on tropical cyclones (PTC).
•  The next tropical cyclone’s name will be “Amphan” ( a Thai name) over the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea. 

Naming of Tropical Cyclones:

• 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 easier to remember than numbers and technical terms.
• Names should be neutral and not relate to any religion,culture,,gender or politics.
•  Name should not hurt the sentiments of any group of people in the world.
• Name should not be rude or cruel in nature.
• Name should be not more than 8characters and should be easy to pronounce.
• Any tropical cyclone that hits the region is known by a name given in the list. There are 13 countries member of RSMCs and each allowed to propose 13 names. 
• Once the last name (Amphan) of the previous list is used, the TC (tropical cycone) thereafter will be known one-by-one as Nisarga (shared by Bangladesh), Gati (India), Nivar (Iran) in that order from the list of 169 names.