Nearly eight-dozen hurricane or tropical storm names have been retired from future use in the Atlantic Basin. A committee of the World Meteorological Organization is responsible for creating each year’s tropical cyclone name list. The National Hurricane Center then assigns these names, in alphabetical order, to any system that becomes a tropical storm (39-plus-mph winds) or hurricane (74-plus-mph winds) in the Atlantic Basin, which includes the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico. The hurricane name lists rotate every six years, so the 2022 list was last used in 2016. However, if any storms from the list are particularly destructive and/or deadly, the WMO can vote to retire their names from being used again in the future, such was the case with hurricanes Harvey (2017), Katrina (2005), Michael (2018) and Sandy (2012). HURRICANE HARVEY: BY THE NUMBERS Including the 2021 hurricane season, 94 names of hurricanes or tropical storms in the Atlantic have been officially retired by the WMO since the practice began in 1954. The most recent retiree hurricane name is Hurricane Ida from 2021. Ida made landfall in southeastern Louisiana as a Category 4 hurricane on Aug. 29 with maximum sustained winds of around 150 mph and a powerful 14-foot storm surge. But the storm's effects were also felt up the entire Eastern Seaboard, with tornadoes and flooding reported as north as New England. Hurricane Ida was blamed for the deaths of more than 100 people, and its estimated damages topped $75 billion from the Caribbean to New England. The storm's destruction was enough to propel the storm to the fifth-costliest hurricane in U.S. history, ranking just behind Katrina, Harvey, Maria and Sandy, respectively. IDA RETIRED FROM TROPICAL CYCLONE NAMING LIST AFTER BECOMING 5TH COSTLIEST U.S. HURRICANE Following the record-shattering 2020 hurricane season, the WMO voted to retire three names from future use: Laura, Eta and Iota. At Category 4 intensity on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, Laura was the strongest hurricane to make landfall in southwestern Louisiana since records began in 1851, according to the National Weather Service office in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Eta and Iota both devastated Central America within a two-week span in November 2020. NASA said Iota was the year’s strongest hurricane, with maximum sustained winds reaching 160 mph (Category 5). HOW TO WATCH FOX WEATHER ON TV The 2005 hurricane season saw the most storm names retired of any year, with five: Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan and Wilma. In 2017, there were four names retired: Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate. Since 1954, only 19 years did not have a retired hurricane or tropical storm; the most recent year was 2014. A tropical cyclone name doesn’t need to become a major hurricane (Category 3, 4 or 5) to be retired by the WMO. A notable number of storms have been retired because of deadly flooding in the Caribbean islands, Central America, Mexico or the United States. Nate in 2017 was the most recent example of this, as it was only a Category 1 hurricane, but its heavy rain caused significant impacts in Central America and resulted in 44 deaths. HOW ARE HURRICANES RATED? THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON HURRICANE WIND SCALE EXPLAINED Two retired storm names in the Atlantic were never even hurricanes: Tropical Storm Erika in 2015 and Tropical Storm Allison in 2001. Thirty deaths were directly blamed on Erika’s torrential rain and flooding on the island of Dominica. Allison caused $9 billion in damage, mostly in the Houston area, after more than 40 inches of rain fell in parts of southeastern Texas. It was responsible for 41 deaths and was one of Houston’s worst floods on record until Harvey in 2017.
Take a look at the 2021 Atlantic hurricane predictions as we forge ahead with this year's named storms. As the hurricane season has officially started, NOAA predicts somewhere between 14 to 21 named storms for the 2022 season, of which six to ten can become hurricanes. The Atlantic hurricane season starts June 1st and usually ends around November 30th every year. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted six to 10 Atlantic hurricanes for this season, with three to six achieving category 3, 4, or 5 winds of 111 mph or higher, categorizing them as major hurricanes. An increased hurricane activity this season, predicted by scientists, is likely due to the ongoing La Nina oceanic effect and above-average surface and sea temperatures. Below are the 21 storm names for the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season along with the NHC's official pronunciations.
Each season's storm names alternate between female and male avoiding any that begin with Q, U, X, Y, or Z due to availability. Names repeat every six years unless a storm is particularly destructive. In that case, its name is retired "for reasons of sensitivity." A total of 93 hurricane names have been retired since 1954. Laura, Eta, and Iota were all retired in 2020. For more information, visit the NHC's website at Hurricanes.gov. Home » Geologic Hazards » Tropical Storm Names Hurricane Katrina: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico approaching the coast. NOAA Image. The World Meteorological Organization is in charge of assigning names to tropical storms that originate in the Atlantic Ocean and reach a sustained wind speed of 39 miles per hour. Any storm that reaches a sustained wind speed of 74 miles per hour is called a "hurricane." When a storm becomes a hurricane, it retains the name that it was given as a tropical storm. The World Meteorological Organization has six lists of storm names which are recycled every six years. The name lists for 2014 through 2024 are shown in the tables on this page.
The first tropical storm that attains a sustained wind speed of at least 39 miles per hour in a calendar year is given the name that begins with an "A" from that year's list. The second storm is given the name that begins with a "B." Naming progresses through the year with names assigned in alphabetical order. If there are more than 21 named storms in a given year, there is a supplemental list of 21 names that are used. In the past, the Greek alphabet was used for subsequent storms, but this proved to be confusing because several of the names sound very similar. This system was retired in 2021 and replaced with the list of supplemental names shown near the bottom of this page.
In the tables on this page, you can see that the name list from 2016 is nearly identical to the list that will be used in 2022. This shows how the name lists are recycled every six years. However, if you compare the names in the lists, you will see that Matthew and Otto will not be reused in 2022. These two hurricanes were so deadly and damaging that the World Meteorological Organization decided that reuse of their names would be insensitive. Their names were permanently retired from use. Tropical storms in other basins such as the eastern and western Pacific Ocean are also given names. Name lists for these tropical storms have been compiled by the National Hurricane Center and can be viewed on their website.
Find Other Topics on Geology.com:
Geology.com does not grant permission for any use, republication, or redistribution. |