How Did Nisarga Get Its Name? Here's A Comparison With Cyclone Amphan

After Amphan, it is now the turn of cyclone Nisarga which is making landfall in Maharashtra Coast today. Find out how the cyclone got its name.

Photo: AFP

Cyclone Nisarga has made a landfall near Alibaug about 100 km from Mumbai in the afternoon. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that Nisarga will not be as severe as Amphan and considered to be not as intense Amphan and will be a category 2 storm. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), it will cross Maharashtra coast between Harihareshwar & Daman, very close to Alibaug between 1 pm to 4 pm.

How are cyclones named?

Cyclone, hurricane and a typhoon are all the names of the same storm system. A tropical cyclone is a rotating storm system that has a low-pressure centre. It is characterized by strong winds, spiral arrangements of thunderstorms, and heavy rainfall.

When this storm develops in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean it is called a hurricane, in the north-western Pacific Ocean is called a typhoon and in the south Pacific or the Indian Ocean is referred to as "tropical cyclones" or "severe cyclonic storms.

For most of the time in history, storms were unnamed and referred to arbitrarily. But it was later found that naming storms helped in making warning systems efficient as the storms could easily be identified and that short and distinctive names had a better recall.

In modern times, there is a proper procedure and many authoritative bodies that determine the names of tropical cyclones and hurricanes. For tropical cyclones such as the present one, the Tropical Cyclone Regional Body responsible for that basin will finalise the names at its annual or biennial meeting. There are 5 tropical cyclone regional bodies- ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee, WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones, RA I Tropical Cyclone Committee, RA IV Hurricane Committee, and RA V Tropical Cyclone Committee.

Similarly, there is a Hurricane Committee to determine the names of hurricanes. The names that are selected do not represent any person and it is ensured that it is familiar to the people in the region. After criticism about using only female names for naming storms male names were also included in the list.

General view of Mumbai on June 3, 2020 as cyclone Nisarga barrels towards India's western coast. - Mumbai authorities shut offices, banned small gatherings and told people to stay home on June 3 as the Indian megacity's first cyclone in more than 70 years approached. Cyclone Nisarga was expected to make landfall near the coastal town of Alibag, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of Mumbai, on June 3 afternoon, forecasters said. (Photo by Punit PARANJPE / AFP)

So How did Nisarga get its name?

According to information from WMO, in 2000, WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones at its twenty-seventh Session held in 2000 in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman agreed to assign names to the tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea. And the naming began from 2004 with inputs from eight members. Since that time five more countries have joined the panel, making it a total of 1 country.

Amphan happened to be the last name on that pre-determined list while Nisarga is the first name from a new list of 169 names. In the coming years, cyclones will be named from the new list which has names such as Shaheen, Gulab, Tej, and Aag. Nisarga will be followed by the names Gati and then Nivar.  The entire lists for cyclone names are given on the WMO website.

The RSMC New Delhi Tropical Cyclone Center is responsible to name the tropical cyclones that have formed over the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea when they have reached the relevant intensity.