Odisha and West Bengal are bracing up for the cyclonic storm that is expected to occur after the depression over east central Bay of Bengal intensifies. The cyclonic storm which has been named as ‘Dana’ is likely to make landfall on Odisha and West Bengal coasts between Puri and Sagar Island on Thursday, 24th October night. IMD alerted about the occurrence on X and Odisha government has also taken precautionary measures. Dana is majorly going to affect Odisha and will partially affect West Bengal. Heavy rainfall alert has been issued by India Meteorological Department for Odisha.
Cyclone Dana
Cyclone Dana is the second cyclonic storm to hit Indian coasts in gap of two months after Cyclone Asna. Cyclone Asna had struck the coasts on August. The names of cyclones always raise curiosity among people. Their different and interesting names prompt people to search for the story behind their names. For example Cyclone Bulbul, Biparjoy, Pawan, Remal, Mandous, Fani etc.
Naming Of Cyclone Dana
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is assigned with the task of naming cyclones that forms over the North Indian Ocean which includes the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. In addition to this, IMD also releases storm and cyclone advisories to twelve other countries in the region.
The cyclones are not named casually or as per wish of anyone, they are based on a well-planned system formulated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). WMO lists out rules and regulations for naming cyclones. Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC)- Tropical cyclone New Delhi gives the identification name of cyclones for storms originating at both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.
Named By Qatar
As reported by The Indian Express, Qatar has named Cyclone ‘Dana’ according to the Tropical Cyclone Naming system rules laid by the WMO. The word ‘Dana’ implies for generosity in Arabic. The names are based on standard convention of naming of region’s tropical cyclones.
WMO’s Rule For Naming Cyclones
WMO has a strict procedure to determine a list of tropical cyclone names in an ocean basin(s)
Tropical Cyclone Regional Body responsible for that basin(s) decides the name in meeting. There are five tropical cyclone regional bodies, i.e. ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee, WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones, RA I Tropical Cyclone Committee, RA IV Hurricane Committee, and RA V Tropical Cyclone Committee.
As per WMO, the tropical cyclone or hurricane are given those names which are familiar to the people in each region. The main purpose of naming a tropical cyclone and hurricane is basically for people easily to understand and remember the name in a region.
Group of nations that are part of the World Meteorological Organisation are responsible for naming most of the cyclones.
The group includes countries such as Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand and they started to name cyclones in the region in 2000.
According to the system, all the member nations are requires to send their suggestions to a WMO panel which later finalises the list of Tropical Cyclones with the names.
The organization was further expanded in 2018 and more countries like Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen were added to the group. All 13 member countries are required to send 13 suggestions for cyclone names which are accordingly encompassed in the list.
The name should be of maximum length of eight letters. The compilation issued in 2020 has list of 169 names contributed by member countries. After all the names from a list are used, the naming then resumes from the next list. Cyclone Dana is going to follow previous storms like Nisarga, Gati, and Tauktae.
Also Read: IMD Weather Update: Heavy Rain To Lash Karnataka, Assam; Cyclone Alert For Odisha And West Bengal
