How was Cyclone Dana named? All you need to know about the storm heading towards Odisha coast

Cyclone Dana is expected to strengthen into a severe cyclonic storm and is heading towards the East Indian coast. According to the India Meteorological Department, the severe storm is likely to make landfall late on Thursday, October 24.

The weather forecasting agency has issued heavy rainfall alerts in Odisha and West Bengal. Meanwhile, the depression over the Bay of Bengal is already impacting weather conditions in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. 

Cyclone Dana will be the second cyclonic storm to strike the Indian coast in two months after Cyclone Asna hit the peninsula in late August. Most of the cyclonic storms are identified with intriguing names; Titli, Biparjoy, Nisarga, or Fani are a few of them. These striking names are not assigned to cyclones randomly and are given based on a well-planned system formulated by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). Before understanding the system, know how Cyclone Dana got its name.

How did Cyclone Dana get its name?

Cyclone Dana was named by Qatar according to the tropical cyclone naming system formulated by the WMO, reported the Indian Express. The word Dana means ‘generosity’ in Arabic and was chosen by Qatar. The names are suggested for cyclonic storms based on the region's standard convention of naming tropical cyclones.

How are cyclones named?

Most of the cyclones are named by a group of nations that are part of the World Meteorological Organisation. The group included nations such as Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The group started to name cyclones in the region in 2000. As per the system, all the member nations send their suggestions to a WMO panel that later finalises the list of Tropical Cyclones with the names. The organisation further expanded a few years ago in 2018, when Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen were added to the group. As per the system, all 13 member countries are required to send 13 suggestions for cyclone names which are incorporated in the list accordingly.