Cyclone Ockhi has left behind a trail of destruction in the Southern states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu and is headed for Lakshadweep islands in the Arabian Sea during the weekend.
This tropical storm has been named by Bangladesh. In Bengali, ‘Ockhi’ means eye. Cyclones, hurricanes and typhoons are usually named for the benefit of easy communication between forecasters and the public.
The naming of cyclones was started in 2000 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United National Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). Nine regions are responsible for the nomenclature namely — North Atlantic, South Atlantic, Eastern North Pacific, Central North Pacific, Southern Pacific, Western North Pacific, North Indian Ocean, South West Indian Ocean.
Cyclones originating in the North Indian Ocean basin between 45°E-100°E are named by the Indian Meteorological Department.
The next cyclone has already been named by India as ‘Sagar’. The one after will be called ‘Daye’, as named by Myanmar.
Other South Asian countries surrounded by the Indian Ocean such as Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand had submitted eight names each along with India. These 64 names are used in sequence and the names of significant tropical cyclones are retired.
The first tropical cyclone was named ‘Onil’ by Bangladesh in 2004.
A deep depression in the Bay of Bengal led to the formation of Cyclone Ockhi on Thursday morning. By evening the season’s maiden cyclone strengthened further and turned into a cyclonic storm. It has been travelling in the northwest direction and will start weakening as it curves towards the northeast as per weather reports.
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