‘Arnab’ is already a name on the cyclone list. The weather system currently over the Bay of Bengal, however, has not earned it.
The system intensified into a deep depression on Tuesday and was forecast to cross the north Andhra Pradesh-south Odisha coast as a deep depression. ‘Arnab’ is next in the regional list of names for a cyclonic storm over the North Indian Ocean, meaning the name would be assigned only if a system reaches the required intensity.
That distinction raises a larger question. Why are tropical cyclones given names in the first place, and who decides what those names will be?
Cyclone names are not usually created when a storm appears.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) says regional tropical cyclone bodies establish lists of names in advance. National meteorological and hydrological services propose the names, which are then used according to the naming procedure followed in each region.
The system means that a name can exist on a list long before a storm ever receives it.
‘Arnab’ is one example.
The name was contributed to the regional list before the current weather system developed. If the system does not reach the required threshold for a named cyclone, the name remains available for a future storm.
The reason is less dramatic than the names themselves.
Meteorologists once relied more heavily on technical descriptions, including a storm's location and other identifiers. But as tropical cyclone forecasting expanded, those descriptions could become cumbersome, particularly when several storms were active at the same time.
Short, distinctive names made communication quicker and reduced the risk of confusing one storm with another, according to the US National Hurricane Center. The advantage mattered not just to meteorologists, but also to ships, coastal authorities and other organisations receiving warnings over large distances.
The WMO similarly says naming makes storms easier to identify in warnings and public communications. Names are generally selected to be short, easy to pronounce and distinctive.
A name does not indicate how dangerous a cyclone is. It is primarily a way of identifying a particular storm.
Tropical cyclone naming is organised through several regional bodies under the WMO framework, and the procedures are not identical everywhere.
In some regions, names follow alphabetical order. In others, the sequence follows the alphabetical order of participating countries or another regional arrangement. The Atlantic, for example, uses predetermined lists that are rotated, while other regions have their own systems.
That is why the same naming logic cannot simply be applied to every cyclone on the planet.
Even the word used for the storm varies by region. The weather phenomenon is generally referred to as a tropical cyclone, while ‘hurricane’ and ‘typhoon’ are regional terms.
The naming systems are regional too.
The practice of naming storms predates today's international system.
In parts of the Caribbean, hurricanes were historically identified using the name of the saint associated with the day on which a storm struck. The US National Hurricane Center also records how Australian meteorologist Clement Wragge began assigning women's names to tropical storms in the late 19th century.
The practice later became embedded in military and meteorological communications during World War II, when forecasters tracking storms across the Pacific found names useful for distinguishing systems.
The United States began using women's names for Atlantic storms in 1953. Male and female names were eventually incorporated into the Atlantic lists, with the change introduced in 1979.
Today's international system is more structured.
The WMO says modern cyclone names are not named after particular individuals. Instead, countries participating in regional cyclone committees propose names that are assessed before being added to predetermined lists.
The WMO says names should be short, easy to pronounce, and appropriate in different languages. They should also be distinctive, with the same names not being used in different regional systems.
That matters because cyclone warnings may be communicated across borders and languages.
A name that is difficult to pronounce, easily confused with another storm or carries an inappropriate meaning can undermine the purpose of the system.
Some cyclone names eventually become part of history.
When a storm causes exceptionally severe deaths or damage, its name can be retired rather than assigned to another cyclone.
The WMO says particularly deadly or costly cyclone names can be removed and replaced. In the Atlantic, for example, names are retired when a storm's impact makes continued use of its name inappropriate.
Retiring a name helps distinguish a historic disaster from a later storm and prevents confusion when discussing past events.
The practice has produced some of the most recognisable storm names in modern weather history. Katrina, Sandy, Dorian, Laura and other names have been retired after particularly destructive storms.
In 2021, for example, the WMO's Hurricane Committee retired Dorian, Laura, Eta and Iota from Atlantic lists because of the deaths and destruction associated with those storms. The committee also ended the use of the Greek alphabet for exceptionally active seasons, replacing it with a supplemental naming system.
For meteorologists, a cyclone is defined by measurable characteristics such as wind speed, pressure, location and movement.
For the public, however, disasters are often remembered through names. The same name allows news reports, government records, scientific studies and disaster assessments to refer to a particular event without repeatedly describing its location or technical classification.
The WMO says naming can also help raise awareness and support preparedness.
But a name does not tell people how strong a storm is, how much damage it will cause or where it will make landfall. Those details still have to come from official forecasts and warnings.
That brings the story back to the name that started it.
‘Arnab’ is already on the list, but the current weather system has not officially taken that name. If it remains a deep depression, it will not be called Cyclone Arnab.
The name would remain next in sequence for a subsequent system that reaches the required intensity.
The process is straightforward: names are selected in advance, weather systems are monitored, and a name is assigned when the regional criteria are met.
For ‘Arnab’, the question is therefore not whether the name exists. It is whether the storm reaches the threshold needed to receive it.
(This story is compiled by Naina)