On April 29, 2020, India Meteorological Department (IMD), an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India (GoI), has released a detailed list containing 169 names of upcoming tropical cyclones that are likely to occur over the north Indian Ocean (NIO) including the Bay of Bengal (BoB) and the Arabian Sea (AS).
Key Points:
i.The list comprises names of 13 cyclones each for the 13 member nations (Bangladesh, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, the UAE and Yemen) of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO)/UNESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific), totalling to 169.
ii.According to the IMD, the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) and World Meteorological Department have accepted 13 new names of tropical cyclone proposed by the IMD,The 13 names for India include Gati, Tej, Murasu, Aag, Vyom, Jhar, Probaho, Neer, Prabhanjan, Ghurni, Ambud, Jaladhi and Vega.
iii.The fresh list was tabled during the 45th session of WMO/ESCAP hosted by Oman in September 2018.
iv.The new list will become easier to issue warnings for these storms and spread awareness & remove confusion in case of simultaneous occurrence of tropical cyclones over a region. Also, in the time of disaster in the country, it will be able to contact each other better.
v.Background:
- Naming of cyclonic storms was last done in 2004 by meteorological departments of eight countries. Then these countries together named after the possible cyclonic storms in the North Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.
- After this, in 2018, various countries formed a panel for mutual coordination. The same panel was entrusted with the responsibility of naming future cyclonic storms.
The full list can be found in the link below,
https://mausam.imd.gov.in/backend/assets/press_release_pdf/Press_Release_Names_of_Tropical_Cyclones_28042020.pdf
About India Meteorological Department (IMD):
Headquarters– New Delhi
Director General– Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra
It is one of the 6 Regional Specialised Meteorological Centres (RSMCs) established across the world, along with 5 regional Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs) that entrusted to issue advisories and names of tropical cyclones.
