The storm that ravaged Finland at the beginning of the week has been named Sylvia. In the past, all tropical storms in the United States were named after women.
For many people, Kiira, Asta or Veera come to mind from Finland’s past storms.
After the 1960s with storms rated as significant has been a woman’s name 15 times and a man’s name 12 times.
– The higher number of women’s names is purely a matter of chance, as the storms are named according to the name day calendar of the University almanac, says the meteorologist Ari-Juhani Punkka From the Institute of Meteorology.
Meteorologists can give a storm or gale a name if it is strong or expected to cause significant damage. Naming storms became established in the 1980s.
The storm can also be named afterwards. In the past, the name was generally given only when the storm had caused significant damage.
Now the storms are more and more interesting and the name is often asked in advance along with Punka.
– It is important to remember that the Finnish Meteorological Institute is not a place to name storms. Anyone can name a storm according to the calendar. In retrospect, we will see if the storm somehow deserves to go down in history, says Punkka.
Meteorologists are studying the effects of the storm and wondering if it will get a place on the Finnish Meteorological Institute’s list of significant severe weather events.
The storm was named Sylvia
At the moment, the storm cooling across Finland has been named Sylvia.
Today is the name day of Sylvi, Sylvia and Silva. The first unused name was chosen as the name. The storm was named Sylvi in 2010.
Storms are named with recognizable names primarily because they get better attention, for example in warnings and in the media.
Hans is rampant in Sweden and Norway
Storm Hans has wreaked havoc in Norway and Sweden at the beginning of the week.
In Scandinavia, the names of storms are decided by the weather service of each country.
Sweden, Denmark and Norway can use the same name for the storm. If the storm first arrives in, say, Denmark, Norway and Sweden use the same name for it.
The ongoing storm Hans arrived in Norway first. Male and female names are chosen alternately
Tropical storms still had a woman’s name in the 1970s
Tropical storms only started to be given names in the 1950s, specifically to facilitate the flow of information.
In the past, names were chosen at random. For example, in the 1850s, a storm raging in the Atlantic Ocean that tore off the mast of a ship named Antje became known as Hurricane Antje. Storms are also named after their geographical location or according to the time.
Today, tropical storms are named by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). according to the list of names maintained.
In the mid-1950s, storms in the United States began to be given female names, and it was not until 15 years later, in 1978, that both female and male names began to be used.
The US National Hurricane Center also chooses names from the WMO list.
In naming, six lists are used alternately. At the moment, it is the turn of the list, which will be used until 2025.
The name of a particularly destructive storm will not be used again
Efforts are being made to permanently remove the names of large, destructive and highly publicized tropical storms.
These have been, for example, Mangkut, which raged in the Philippines in 2018, Irma and Maria, which roared through the Caribbean in 2017, and Katrina, which destroyed the city of New Orleans in 2005, among others.
The Finnish Meteorological Institute tells an interesting detail. Finland is also known as the “graveyard” of low-pressure storms.
For example, in 2013, the St Jude storm that ravaged Great Britain weakened as it moved towards Finland and arrived here as a weakened, nameless autumn low-pressure storm.