On 8th May, Cyclone Asani developed in the Bay of Bengal. Asani, a name given by Sri Lanka, means ‘wrath’ in Sinhalese.
The last cyclone that made landfall in India was named Jawad by Saudi Arabia. But, who decides the name of a cyclone?
The World Meteorological Organisation says there can be more than one cyclone at a time in one particular location. Thus, each tropical storm is given a name to avoid confusion. The names given to these storms are usually short and easy to pronounce. This helps in better communication during a disaster.
Tropical cyclones are named according to the rules at the regional level. There are 6 Regional Specialised Meteorological Centres in the world and 4 regional Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres.
These centres issue advisories and are responsible for the naming of cyclonic storms. The India Meteorological Department is one of the six regional centres.
It gives a name to a cyclone that forms over the northern Indian Ocean and reaches a maximum sustained surface wind speed of 62 km/h. The name is taken from a list which contains suggestions categorised alphabetically and country-wise.
The names must be new and should not be repeated again. The word can have a maximum of eight letters. It should not be offensive to any member country or hurt the sentiments of any group of population.
