Vinson Kurian

Weather watchers of yore named destructive weather systems after people they despised.

Thiruvananthapuram , Sept. 25

PASSION, curse and gender are among concerns that have traditionally influenced the naming of cyclones, although the semantics have often formed the vortex of storms of a different kind.

It was an Australian forecaster who first named a tropical cyclone early in the 20th century, recalls Dr Akhilesh Gupta of the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF). Names are assigned to provide ease of communication between forecasters and the general public with regard to cyclone forecasts, watches, and warnings.

So we have a Hurricane Rita treading the beaten path across the Gulf of Mexico, as did Hurricane Katrina a fortnight before.

Storms can often last a week or longer and more than one can occur in the same ocean basin at the same time, Dr Gupta told Business Line. Names can reduce the confusion about what storm is being described at a given time. According to Dunn and Miller (1960), the pioneering Australian gave tropical cyclone names "after political figures whom he disliked."

This might have started off a process in which weather watchers began to associate destructive weather systems with people they despised. By properly naming a hurricane, the weatherman could publicly describe a politician as "causing great distress" or "wandering aimlessly about Pacific."

During World War II, tropical cyclones were informally given women's names by the US Army Air Corps and Navy meteorologists (after their girlfriends or wives) tracking tropical cyclones over the Pacific. From 1950 to 1952, tropical cyclones of the North Atlantic Ocean were identified by the phonetic alphabet (Able-Baker-Charlie-etc.). In 1953, the US Weather Bureau switched to women's names.

But this kicked off an unpredicted storm, with gender activists propounding that naming destructive storms after women as being prejudiced. The protests seemed to hit the bull's eye, with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the US National Weather Service (NWS) choosing a list of names that also included men.

Beginning January 1, 2000, tropical cyclones in the Northwest Pacific basin have come to be named from a new and very different list of names. The new names are Asian names and were contributed by nations and territories that are members of the WMO's Typhoon Committee. These newly selected names have two major differences from the rest of the world's tropical cyclone name rosters.

One, the names are by and large not personal. A majority are names of flowers, animals, birds, trees or even foods, while some are descriptive adjectives. Secondly, the names will not be allotted in alphabetical order, but are arranged in the alphabetical order of the nations contributing names.

In the Atlantic basin, tropical cyclone names are "retired" (that is, not to be used again for a new storm) if it is deemed to be quite noteworthy because of the damage and/or deaths it caused. This is to prevent confusion with a historically well-known cyclone with a current one in the Atlantic basin.

Gender-neutral names are being given to North Indian Ocean cyclones these days. Tropical Cyclone Pyaar was the first to hit the Bay of Bengal coast during this monsoon.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu Business Line