Cyclone ‘Dana’ To Reach Odisha Coast By October 24; Know Who Named It & Meaning

Bhubaneswar: A cyclone is brewing over Eastcentral Bay of Bengal and it is likely to take shape by October 23 before reaching northwest Bay of Bengal off Odisha-West Bengal coasts by October 24 morning as a severe cyclonic storm, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) informed on Sunday.

The cyclone has been named ‘Dana’, as proposed by Qatar, which is Arabic for a beautiful, precious pearl.

Though the IMD is yet to forecast possible track and landfall intensity and position of ‘Dana’, Odisha is likely to bear the maximum burnt of the emerging storm. The weather agency has already sounded red warning for the state, which may experience very heavy rain and gale along the coast under the influence of the system.

Odisha has a history of being battered by cyclones emerging from the Bay of Bengal. The super cyclone of 1999 had hit the state on October 29, leaving behind an unprecedented trail of devastation. Phalini (2013), Hudhud (2014) and Titli (2018) also occurred in October while Fani, a May cyclone, tore through Puri in 2019.

‘Dana’ appears in the new list of tropical cyclone names adopted by 13 WMO/ESCAP panel member countries, including Bangladesh, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Yemen, in April 2020 for naming of tropical cyclones over North Indian Ocean, including Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.

NAMING OF CYCLONES

The names have always been amusing but ever wondered how are these chosen and why?

There are several classifications for a storm system, based on geographical location, such as cyclone, hurricane and typhoon. When such a weather condition develops in Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean, it’s called a hurricane. In case of a severe storm developing in north-western Pacific Ocean, it’s a typhoon; while in the south Pacific or Indian Ocean it is referred to as tropical cyclone or a severe cyclonic storm.

Cyclones were not identified by any name initially. The tradition started with a hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean. The name given was Antje, as the hurricane ripped off the mast of bast of the same name. Any tropical storm reaching sustained wind speed of 39 miles per hour was given some name.

Later it was learnt that naming storms would help in making warning systems efficient as they could be easily identified. Short and distinctive names were preferred once the system was introduced globally.

A well-defined procedure is in place now to fix names of tropical cyclones and hurricanes. The tropical cyclone regional body is entrusted with the responsibility of suggesting names of tropical cyclones. The names are considered and finalised at the annual or biennial meeting. Similarly, there is a committee to come up with names of hurricanes and likewise with typhoons.

How it started

Starting from the start of naming cyclones, people in the Caribbean islands in the late 1800s would give storms some local names, all of which were based on the saint of the day from the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar. The Atlantics have been naming storms since past few hundred years. The Caribbean tradition continued till World War II. Post the war, forecasters and meteorologists started using female names to identify the storms.

The US weather service, in 1953, took the idea and created a new phonetic alphabet (international) of women’s names from A to W, except the letters Q,U,X,Y and Z in the pursuit of a more organised and efficient naming system.

Controversies

The idea of portraying women as destructive drew criticism. The protests led to inclusion of male names for the storms since 1978. From then on, men’s names were introduced and they alternate with the women’s names under which, six lists are used in rotation.

Who does it

Naming of cyclones across the globe is a recent phenomenon. World Meteorological Organization is usually the apex body deciding the names, which should not represent any person and should be words that are familiar to the people in the region.

Storms in Indian ocean

In India, or the storms arising in the Indian Ocean, the procedure of assigning names began in 2000. However, a set formula was agreed upon only in 2004 – the reason Odisha’s 1999 Supercyclone had no name. The names are given by the Indian Meteorological Department and the first tropical cyclone to be named was Onil, in 2004. It was a name given by Bangladesh.

The names are supposed to be easy to pronounce, neutral to politics, religions, cultures and gender. Also, it should not be ‘very rude and cruel’ in nature.

Amphan was the last name on that pre-determined list of 2004 and Nisarga the first name in the new list of 169.

Why name a cyclone

The question as to why name a cyclone has quite an unexpectedly simple answer – for easy remembrance and tracking. It is easier to say ‘Cyclone Dana’  than memorise the number of the storm’s longitude and latitude. Names are also helpful when there are more than one cyclones to track.

In October 2023, ‘Tej’ and ‘Hamoon’, the twin cyclones, took form in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal respectively.

Use of short, distinctive names also makes it less cumbersome. For the media, it becomes easier to report by using names. The names are also helpful in exchanging detailed storm information between hundreds of widely scattered stations, coastal bases, and ships at sea.

Then they retire…

The cyclones that cause widespread damage and deaths usually retire. It means, these names are not used at least for 10 years. New names replace those. An annual meeting by the WMO Tropical Cyclone Committees strikes off these offending names from the list.

Once officially retired, done as a mark of respect to the dead, the names are replaced with a name of the same gender and beginning with a same letter. Since 1972, as many as 50 names have been struck off, including infamous ones like Haiyan (Philippines, 2013), Sandy (USA, 2012), Katrina (USA, 2005), Mitch (Honduras, 1998).