Cyclone ‘Nivar’: Know How The Storm Got Its Name & Who Suggested It

Bhubaneswar: What a stormy year 2020 has been so far! After cyclones ‘Amphan’, ‘Nisarga’ and ‘Gati’, ‘Nivar’ is heading towards Karaikal in Puducherry and is expected to make the landfall on November 25.

Under its influence, Rayalaseema and south coastal Andhra Pradesh districts are likely to receive heavy rainfall on November 25 and 26. Heavy rain is also expected to lash some places in South Odisha.

Nivar is the third name to be used from the new list of names for North Indian Ocean Cyclones, released in 2020. It was suggested by Iran.

‘Amphan’, which was proposed by Thailand, was the last name in the 2004 series.

‘Nisarga’ (nature), which hit Alibaug near Raigad district in Maharashtra in June, was a name given by Bangladesh while India had proposed ‘Gati’ (speed), which made landfall over Somalia on November 22.

THE NAME GAME

The names for tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea are suggested by Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Yemen as per the formula agreed by World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific in its 27th session in 2000.

Each country provides 13 names.

India had reportedly proposed Gati (speed), Tej (speed), Marasu (musical instrument in Tamil), Aag (fire) and Neer (water), among others, for the new list.

The panel members’ name is listed alphabetically country-wise, starting with Bangladesh followed by India, Iran, Maldives and so on. The names for the cyclones are used sequentially column-wise.

The names of the next few cyclones adopted by member countries in April 2020 are as follows: Burevi (Maldives), Tauktae (Myanmar), Yaas (Oman), and Gulab (Pakistan). These are among the 169 names suggested by the 13 countries.

Typically, the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the north Indian Ocean witness five cyclones a year. The new list would, thus, cover the next 25 years.