How Cyclone Fani got its name and what it means

 

The name for this cyclone was suggested by Bangladesh.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has devised a mechanism where countries submit a list of names from time to time. Names of cyclones are chosen from this pool.

For tropical cyclones developing in the North Indian Ocean, countries like India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan and Thailand send their names to the regional tropical cyclone committee.

At present, all eight countries have submitted eight names each for naming future cyclones. The name Fani was chosen from this list containing 64 names

The word Fani (pronounced as Foni) means snake.

In 2018  Cyclone Titli hit Andhra Pradesh and parts of Odisha. This cyclone was named by Pakistan.

In 2017, Cyclone Ockhi caused severe damage in Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu. Its name was given by Bangladesh.

The names given by India are: Agni, Akash, Bijli, Jal, Lehar, Megh, Sagar and Vayu.

Here is the list of names given by each countries:

How countries select names

While selecting names for cyclones, countries have to take care that the word is easily understood by people in the region, hence the names are generally familiar words.

"The main purpose of naming a tropical cyclone is basically for people to easily understand and remember the tropical cyclone in a region, thus to facilitate tropical cyclone disaster risk awareness, preparedness, management and reduction," WMO says in its explanation of how cyclones are named.

Another important reason why cyclones are named is to help authorities quickly identify storms and keep a track of them because it is easier to remember cyclones by their names than remembering them using technical information like longitude and latitude

Cyclone Fani, which has been classified as an extremely severe cyclone (ESC), is the 10th such cyclone to hit India in May in past 52 years.

Data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) show that the last time an extremely severe cyclone hit India in May was in 2004.

The other years when such cyclones were witnessed in May are: 1968, 1976, 1979, 1982, 1997, 1999 and 2001.

Generally, extremely severe cyclones hit India's east coast in the post-monsoon season (October-December)

IMD data on cyclones that hit India between 1965 and 2017 show that the country has weathered 39 extremely severe cyclones in these 52 years.

Of these, nearly 60 per cent (23) were between October and December.