Cyclone ‘Sitrang’ Likely To Form In Bay After Oct 22; Know Who Named It & What It Means

Bhubaneswar: Putting a stop to all speculations, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday confirmed about possibility of a cyclone over the west-central Bay of Bengal after October 22.

“Yesterday’s cyclonic circulation over south Andaman Sea and neighbourhood lay over north Andaman Sea and neighbourhood at 3 am on October 18. Under its influence, a low-pressure area is likely to form over the southeast and adjoining eastcentral Bay of Bengal during the next 48 hours. It is likely to move west-northweswards and concentrate into a depression by October 22 morning over central Bay of Bengal. It is very likely to intensify further into a cyclonic storm over west-central BoB subsequently,” the IMD said.

Though the depression is likely to become well-marked and turn into a storm, the national forecaster has mentioned nothing about its intensity and path.

Also Read: IMD Predicts Possibility Of Cyclone In West-Central Bay Of Bengal

Different weather models have been indicating different paths of the anticipated cyclone. Some have predicted that the cyclone could brush past Odisha, moving towards West Bengal and Bangladesh borders while others indicated that it might reach the eastern Indian coast between Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

If the system intensifies into a cyclonic storm, it will be named ‘Sitrang’ as suggested by Thailand. It is a Thai’s Surname.

Also Read: Amphan – The Last Cyclone In 2004 Naming Series

It is among the list of 169 storms listed by IMD in 2020. ‘Amphan’ was last in the list of names for cyclones complied in 2004 and a new panel of  India, Bangladesh, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Yemen was formed in 2018 to decide the names of the future cyclones.

Nisarga was the first name on the list followed by Gati, Nivar, Burevi, Tauktae, Yaas, Gulab, Shaheen, Jawad, Asani and now, Sitrang. Among these, India had proposed Gati (speed), Tej (speed), Marasu (musical instrument in Tamil), Aag (fire) and Neer (water) etc.

Also Read: Names Of Future Cyclones: ‘Shaheen’, ‘Gulab’, Tej & Aag

Each tropical storm is given a name to avoid confusion since there can be more than one cyclone at a time in a particular geographical location or around the globe and the systems can last for a week or more. Short and easy-to-pronounce names are also helpful in rapidly and effectively disseminating detailed storm information between hundreds of scattered stations, coastal bases and ships at sea.

Also Read: Naming Cyclones Is No ‘Fani’ Business