how are cyclones named? i mean a cyclone was named katrina. who determines these names?

Answer :cyclones are normally named after women. This is done to differentiate one cyclone from the other. Cyclones normally last for a week or more. Tropical cyclones are named to provide ease of communication between forecasters and the general public regarding forecasts, watches, and warnings. Since the storms can often last a week or longer and that more than one can be occurring in the same basin at the same time, names can reduce the confusion about what storm is being described. According to Dunn and Miller (1960), the first use of a proper name for a tropical cyclone was by an Australian forecaster early in the 20th century. He gave tropical cyclone names \"after political figures whom he disliked. By properly naming a hurricane, the weatherman could publicly describe a politician (who perhaps was not too generous with weather-bureau appropriations) as \'causing great distress\' or \'wandering aimlessly about the Pacific.\'\". These newly selected names have two major differences from the rest of the world\'s tropical cyclone name rosters. The names by and large are not personal names. There are a few men\'s and women\'s names, but the majority are names of flowers, animals, birds, trees, or even foods, etc, while some are descriptive adjectives. The names will not be allotted in alphabetical order, but are arranged by contributing nation with the countries being alphabetized. After Aila, Phyan, Laila and Phet, the next cyclone to form over the Indian Ocean will be called Giri (meaning, mountain). One has always wondered how these cyclones got their names and who selected them. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) says the practice of naming storms (tropical cyclones) was adopted years ago to help identify them so that people could be informed about their arrival quickly. This decision, to give names to the cyclones that form over the North Indian Ocean region, was taken unanimously by eight countries — Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand — in the year 2000. A meeting of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) was held for the purpose. WMO and ESCAP together have laid out the procedure by which cyclones are named. Groups of countries in other cyclone-prone areas also have a similar convention for naming cyclones. Each country gave eight names for the cyclones. Thus a list of 64 names was prepared. It was also decided that the 8 countries will take turns to name the cyclones.An IMD release in this regard reads: “The practice of naming storms was adopted because it was proved that short names are easier to remember than numbers and other technical terms.” please also see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_tropical_cyclone_names