Cyclone “Phailin” was disaster and next will be Cyclone “Helen” – who gives these names?

Before the official practice of naming of tropical cyclones began in 1945 significant tropical cyclones were named after

• annoying politicians,
•  mythological creatures,
• saints and
• place names or
• or were just simply numbered with a set of code letters before it.

The official practice of naming tropical cyclones started in 1945 within the Western Pacific and was gradually extended out until 2004, when the Indian Meteorological Department started to name cyclonic storms within the North Indian ocean.

Cyclonic Strom Phailin affected Thailand, Myanmar, Nepal and the Indian states of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Phailin is the Thai word and meaning is “Sapphire” and according to the followed procedure of naming tropical cyclones over north Indian Oceans it was turn of Thailand suggested name in list of assigned names.

The next cyclone in the region will be called “Helen” a name given by Bangladesh which is the next in list of names given by countries in this region – i.e. Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand.

 Names are drawn in order from predetermined lists.

Year wise developments to prepare list where Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand were involved to submit names

YEAR 1999

After the 1999 Orissa Cyclone, the WMO/ESCAP Panel on North Indian tropical cyclones during its annual session in 2000, agreed to start assigning names to Cyclonic Storms that developed within the North Indian Ocean.

YEAR 2000

As a result of this, the panel requested that each member country submit a list of ten names to a rapporteur by the end of 2000.

YEAR 2001

 At the 2001 session, the rapporteur reported that of the eight countries involved, only India had refused to submit a list of names as it had some reservations, about assigning names to tropical cyclones.

 The panel then studied the names and felt that some of the names would not be appealing to the public or the media and thus requested that members submit new lists of names.

YEAR 2002

In 2002 the rapporteur reported that there had been a poor response by member countries in resubmitting their lists of names, over the next year each country, bar India submitted a fresh list of names.

YEAR 2004

By the 2004 session, India had still not submitted its names despite promising to do so, however the rapporteur presented the lists of names that would be used with a gap left for India's names.

The rapporteur also recommended that the naming lists were used on an experimental basis during the season, starting in May or June 2004.

The naming lists were then completed in May 2004, after India submitted their names, however the lists were not used until September 2004 when the first tropical cyclone was named Onil by RSMC New Delhi.

All over the world there are 7 lists from which these tropical and subtropical cyclone names are derived. These lists are derived according to the Ocean’s these cyclones are formed

1. North Atlantic - cyclones are named by the National Hurricane Center (NHC/RSMC Miami)

• Six lists of names, alternating between masculine and feminine, are used in alphabetical order, and 
• maintained by the World Meteorological Organization with them rotating on a yearly basis.

2. Eastern Pacific Ocean - Within the Eastern Pacific Ocean there are two Regional Specialized Meteorological Centers (RSMCs) who assign names to tropical cyclones

• the National Hurricane Center (NHC/RSMC Miami),
• the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC/RSMC Honolulu).

3. Western Pacific Ocean - The Japan Meteorological Agency and The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration

4. North Indian Ocean - The names were selected by members of the ESCAP/WMO panel on Tropical Cyclones between 2000 and May 2004, before the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre in New Delhi started to assign names in September 2004

5. South-West Indian Ocean - the Sub-Regional Tropical Cyclone Advisory Centers in Mauritius and Madagascar who name the systems

6. Australian Region - Within the Australian Region there are five different official Tropical Cyclone Warning Centers who assign names to tropical cyclones.

7. Southern Pacific Ocean - the Regional Specialized Meteorological Center in Nadi, Fiji (RSMC Nadi) and in conjunction with RSMC Nadi by the Tropical Cyclone Warning Center in Wellington, New Zealand (TCWC Wellington).

Cyclones are named for a variety of reasons, which include

• to facilitate communications between forecasters and the public when forecasts, watches, and warnings are issued.
• Names also reduce confusion about what storm is being described, as more than one can occur in the same region at the same time