Cyclone Jawad

Context:

Cyclone Jawad has formed in the Bay of Bengal and is expected to reach Paradip, on the Odisha coast with winds expected to touch 90 kmph as well as heavy rains in Odisha, West Bengal, and north Andhra Pradesh.

Relevance:

Prelims, GS-I: Geography (Important Geophysical Phenomenon, Climatology), GS-III: Disaster Management

Dimensions of the Article:

1. Cyclone Jawad
2. Background regarding the naming of Tropical Cyclone
3. What is the use of Naming of Tropical Cyclones?
4. Criteria Adopted for Naming Cyclones

Cyclone Jawad

• Cyclone Jawad is the first cyclonic storm after the southwest monsoon ended which is likely to form over the Bay of Bengal.
• Post a cyclone-free October and November 2021, the Met Department has issued an alert for the formation of Cyclone Jawad which is expected to reach the Indian States of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha on December 2021.
• The Met Department has further warned that the deep depression over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a cyclonic storm and will move northwestwards and reach north Andhra Pradesh–south Odisha coasts by December 2021.
• IMD has predicted light to moderate rainfall at most places with heavy rainfall at isolated places over Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Background regarding the naming of Tropical Cyclone

• Worldwide there are six regional specialised meteorological centres (RSMCs) and five regional Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs) mandated for issuing advisories and naming of tropical cyclones.
• The India Meteorological Department is one of the six Regional Specialised Meteorological Centres (RSMCs) to provide tropical cyclone and storm surge advisories to 13 member countries under WMO/ESCAP PTC Panel (World Meteorological Organization / The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific – Panel on Tropical Cyclones PTC).
• WMO/ESCAP Panel includes the following 13 member countries:
  • India,
  • Bangladesh,
  • Iran,
  • Maldives,
  • Myanmar,
  • Oman,
  • Pakistan,
  • Qatar,
  • Saudi Arabia,
  • Sri Lanka
  • Thailand
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Yemen
• New Delhi is also mandated to name the Tropical Cyclones developing over the north Indian Ocean (NIO) including the Bay of Bengal (BoB) and the Arabian Sea (AS).
• The tropical cyclones forming over different Ocean basins are named by the concerned RSMCs & TCWCs.
• For north Indian Ocean including Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, the RSMC, New Delhi assigns the name to tropical cyclones following a standard procedure.

What is the use of Naming of Tropical Cyclones?

Naming of Tropical Cyclones helps the scientific community, disaster managers, media and general masses to

• identify each individual cyclone.
• create awareness of its development.
• remove confusion in case of simultaneous occurrence of TCs over a region
• remember a TC easily
• rapidly and effectively disseminate warnings to much wider audience.

Criteria Adopted for Naming Cyclones

1. The proposed name should be neutral to (a) politics and political figures (b) religious believes, (c) cultures and (d) gender
2. Name should be chosen in such a way that it does not hurt the sentiments of any group of population over the globe
3. It should not be very rude and cruel in nature
4. It should be short, easy to pronounce and should not be offensive to any member
5. The maximum length of the name will be eight letters
6. The proposed name should be provided alongwith its pronunciation and voice over
7. The Panel reserves the right to reject any name, if any of the criteria above is not satisfied.
8. The finalised names may also be reviewed during the course of time of implementation with the approval of PTC in its annual session, in case any reasonable objection is raised by any member
9. The names of tropical cyclones over the north Indian Ocean will not be repeated. Once used, it will cease to be used again.

Click Here to read more about Tropical Cyclones, Conditions for cyclone formation, Structure etc.

-Source: The Hindu