A ten day frenzy on the  Biparjoy Cyclonic Storm will come to an end in the next couple of days. The cyclone wrecked havoc in some places and led to loss of life and property and in other places, the effect was no more than a ripple, with heavy winds and heavy to very heavy rainfall creating damage.

How was the Cyclone named?

The name Biparjoy (which means Calamity in Bengali) was given by Bangladesh and it was adopted by the World Meteorological Organisation in 2020, as the WMO maintains a rotating list of names to assign them to tropical cyclones in any area.

There are 6 Regional Specialised Meteorological Centres (RSMCs) and 5 Regional Tropical Storm Warning Centres (RTSWCs) that have been authorized by the WMO to issue advisories and assign names to tropical cyclones worldwide.

Tropical cyclones formed over the north Indian Ocean (Including the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea) are named by RSMC Tropical Cyclones, Delhi. Names to this list are submitted by 13 countries which are a part of the panel. These include Bangladseh, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and United Arab Emirates. Accordingly, the next cyclone in this region will be called Tej, which is the name submitted by India.

How did Biparjoy begin?

Biparjoy began as a deep depression in the south east Arabian Sea earlier this week, but intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm as it gathered momentum. After making its landfall in Gujarat on Thursday, the cyclone entered Rajasthan, where the IMD has already given directives to the administration and residents of the areas where the cyclonic storm would affect, either severely or in passing.

It was first noted by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on 6 June when it was just a deep depression. Over time it intensified into a cyclonic storm and was classified as a Category – 3 tropical cyclone and went on to be classified as an extremely severe cyclonic storm.