How Cyclone Remal, Likely To Hit Bengal Tonight, Got Its Name

Cyclone Remal is likely to make landfall between the coasts of West Bengal and Bangladesh on Sunday midnight, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. This is after a deep depression intensified into a cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal on Saturday evening.

As per IMD, cyclone Remal is expected to make landfall between Sagar Island in West Bengal and Bangladesh's Khepupara on May 26.

Cyclone Remal is the first cyclone over the Bay of Bengal in this pre-monsoon season.

How was Cyclone Remal named?

Cyclone Remal was named by Oman as per the standard convention of naming tropical cyclones in the region. In Arabic, Remal means sand.

Tropical cyclones are named by six Regional Specialised Meteorological Centres (RSMCs) and five Tropical Cyclone Warning Centres (TCWCs), with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) being one of the RSMCs.

The decision to name tropical cyclones in the Bay Of Bengal and Arabian Sea was made in 2000, by the twenty-seventh session of the WMO/ESCAP Panel on Tropical Cyclones (PTC).

The panel has 13 member nations including India, Bangladesh, Iran, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Yemen, Sri Lanka, Maldives, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Qatar.

In September 2004, the naming of the cyclones began, when the member nations proposed different names.

Later, the IMD issued a new list of cyclone names after WMO/ESCAP PTC finalised and adopted them. The list contained 169 names where 13 names each were suggested by the 13 member nations on the panel.

Why are cyclones named?

Naming a cyclone is crucial as it serves several purposes. Apart from aiding the scientific community, media, disaster managers, and common people to identify the cyclone, it creates an awareness about its development.

In addition, cyclone names help eliminate confusion with other tropical cyclones in the area and facilitate the efficient dissemination of warnings to a broader audience.

To prepare for Cyclone Remal, the IMD has advised fishermen to avoid venturing into the north Bay of Bengal until Monday morning.

A red alert has been issued for the coastal districts of West Bengal, including South and North 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur. Additionally, Kolkata, Howrah, and Hooghly are also on high alert, with expectations of extremely heavy rainfall on Sunday and Monday.