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Hurricane Names
Of course, hurricanes have been around since before mankind. It is only recently that we have begun to name them.
BACKGROUND: The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says, “… hurricanes in the Caribbean West Indies were often named after the particular saint’s day on which the hurricane occurred. For example, 'Hurricane San Felipe' struck Puerto Rico on September 13, 1876. Another storm struck Puerto Rico on the same day in 1928, and this storm was named 'Hurricane San Felipe the Second.” The word “hurricane” is thought to have derived from the name of the Carib people’s god of evil, Hurican. |
These days, names for hurricanes are chosen by the World Meteorological Organization, which announces a new set of names each year.
Until about 1941, hurricanes only had masculine names and those names were not chosen in any particular order; that is, they were not alphabetical. Then, for a while beginning in the early 1950’s, we began naming storms alphabetically but with only feminine names. The end of the 1970’s ushered in an age of equality and we began alternating masculine and feminine names. The first hurricane of the season is given a name starting with the letter A, the second with the letter B and so on.
BACKGROUND: Atlantic storm names are these:
In 2005: Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Dennis, Emily, Franklin, Gert, Harvey, Irene, Jose, Katrina, Lee, Maria, Nate, Ophelia, Philippe, Rita, Stan, Tammy, Vince, Wilma.
In 2006: Alberto, Beryl, Chris, Debby, Ernesto, Florence, Gordon, Helene, Isaac, Joyce, Kirk, Leslie, Michael, Nadine, Oscar, Patty, Rafael, Sandy, Tony, Valerie, William.
In 2007: Andrea,
Barry,
Chantal,
Dean,
Erin,
Felix,
Gabrielle,
Humberto,
Ingrid,
Jerry,
Karen,
Lorenzo,
Melissa,
Noel,
Olga,
Pablo,
Rebekah,
Sebastien,
Tanya,
Van,
Wendy
You will notice that there are no storm names beginning with the letters Q, U, X, Y, or Z. That means we only have 21 names to use each year. What happens if there are more storms than that? Well, the storms after “W” are designated by the letters of the Greek alphabet – Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta and so on. The year 2005 was a record setter. There were 27 named Atlantic storms including Epsilon, which was not only a rare December hurricane but lasted longer than any other December hurricane on record. Zeta, the 27th named storm was named in December, 2005 and actually continued to exist into January, 2006. |
Each year, the storms striking the USA from the Pacific Ocean are assigned a different set of names than Atlantic storms and they are of the opposite gender. For example, the first hurricane of the 2001 hurricane season was a Pacific Ocean storm named Adolf whereas the first Atlantic storm of the 2001 season was named Allison.
BACKGROUND: US Pacific storm names are these:
In 2005: Adrian, Beatriz, Calvin, Dora, Eugene, Fernanda, Greg, Hilary, Irwin, Jova, Kenneth, Lidia, Max, Norma, Otis, Pilar, Ramon, Selma, Todd, Veronica, Wiley, Xina, York, Zelda
In 2006: Aletta, Bud, Carlotta, Daniel, Emilia, Fabio, Gilma, Hector, Ileana, John, Kristy, Lane, Miriam, Norman, Olivia, Paul, Rosa, Sergio, Tara, Vicente, Willa, Xavier, Yolanda, Zeke
In 2007: Alvin,
Barbara,
Cosme,
Dalila,
Erick,
Flossie,
Gil,
Henriette,
Ivo,
Juliette,
Kiko,
Lorena,
Manuel,
Narda,
Octave,
Priscilla,
Raymond,
Sonia,
Tico,
Velma,
Wallis,
Xina,
York,
Zelda |
The alternating of names from masculine to feminine does not happen only during a given year. The alternating of genders happens year-to-year as well. For example, the Atlantic “A” storm in 2004 was Alex whereas the Atlantic “A” storm in 2005 was Arlene.
Hurricane names can be retired like team jerseys, but, rather than a sign of admiration for the athlete, retiring a hurricane name signifies infamy for that storm. According to the NOAA: "Whenever a hurricane has had a major impact, any country affected by the storm can request that the name of the hurricane be “retired” by agreement of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Retiring a name actually means that it cannot be reused for at least 10 years, to facilitate historic references, legal actions, insurance claim activities, etc. and avoid public confusion with another storm of the same name."
Not every named storm is a hurricane. A tropical low pressure system or thunderstorm goes through a progression of intensity as it builds power from the warm waters. When its winds are below 39 miles per hour, it is known as a “tropical depression” and is not given a name. However, when its sustained winds are at or above 39 miles per hour it becomes a “tropical storm” and is given a name using the naming convention.
BACKGROUND: A hurricane is a very large cyclonic storm. Such storms are sometimes known as cyclones or as typhoons depending on your location on the earth. In the northern hemisphere, they rotate counter-clockwise. In the southern hemisphere, they rotate clockwise. Hurricanes sometimes spawn more intense but smaller cyclonic storms called tornadoes. Tornadoes are never named no matter how powerful they become. |
Once a storm is named, everyone pays close attention to it because it can wreak such huge damage. Generally, the hurricane season is reckoned to run from June 1st until November 30th. But hurricanes can occur before or after that usual range.
The latent power of a hurricane is described by the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale named for the men who invented it. The scale includes factors other than wind speed, but it is wind speed that is most often mentioned.
Category 1 is the weakest hurricane and has sustained wind speed of 74 miles per hour or more.
Category 2 has wind speed at or above 96 miles per hour.
Category 3 has sustained winds of 111 miles per hour or more.
Category 4 winds are equal to 131 miles per hour or more.
Category 5 is the strongest hurricane and has winds at or above 155 miles per hour.
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