Extensive flooding submerges Florida after the passage of hurricane Idalia. How are the names of storms and other weather phenomena chosen? Here is the list of names of storms and hurricanes.
There Idalia storm quickly turned into a major hurricane, affecting Cuba, the Gulf of Mexico, Georgia and Florida, and caused widespread flooding.
How are the names of hurricanes, cyclones or storms determined?
Since 1979, in the Atlantic basin for example, hurricane names alternate between male (even years) and female (odd years) given names. In total, six lists of first names are available by alphabetical letter, without the letters Q and U, which contain only a few first names. When these letters are used, one draws then among the letters of the Greek alphabet.
These first names must be short and distinct, easy to remember, so as to be able to alert the population of the danger. “Giving a name to storms makes it possible to communicate more effectively when a strong wind phenomenon is approaching. Surveys conducted in the United Kingdom and Ireland, before the implementation in 2016 of their naming system, showed that the population is much more attentive to safety instructions when the threat of strong wind is clearly identified as linked to a named storm“, explains Meteo France.
“Giving a name to storms makes it possible to communicate more effectively when a violent wind phenomenon approaches”.
What are the main names of hurricanes?
Here is some names of hurricanes and tropical storms taking place in the Atlantic since the 2000s:
- Hurricane Keith (2000)
- Hurricane Michelle, Iris (2001)
- Lili, Isidore (2002)
- Isabelle (2003)
- Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne (2004)
- Hurricane Katrina, Rita, Wilma, Denis, Emilie, Stan (2005)
- Hurricane Helene, Gordon, Florence, Tropical Storm Alberto (2006)
- Hurricane Doyen, Dean, Noel, Humberto and Felix (2007)
- Hurricane Gustav, Ike, Hanna (2008)
- Hurricane Bill (2009)
- Hurricane Igor, Earl, Karl, Julia (2010)
- Hurricane Irene (2011)
- Hurricane Sandy (2012)
- Hurricane Gonzalo, Bertha, Arthur (2014)
- Hurricane Joaquin, Danny, Fred (2015)
- Hurricane Matthew (2016)
- Hurricane Harvey, Irma, Maria (2017)
- Hurricane Florence, Michael (2018)
- Hurricane Dorian (2019)
- Hurricane Laura, Delta, Eta, Sally (2020)
- Hurricane Ida (2021)
- Hurricane Ian, Nicole (2022)
- Hurricane Idalia (2023)
Hurricane names removed from list
The World Meteorological Organization decides to remove from the future list certain names of hurricanes that have caused a lot of damage. But it is up to the country concerned to make the request. Since Haiti never called for the withdrawal of Hurricane Gordon, which claimed many victims in 1994, it is still on the list. So here is the list of major hurricane names that have been removed:
Carol, Edna, Hazel, Connie, Diane, Ione, Janet, Audrey, Donna, Carla, Hattie, Flora, Cleo, Dora, Hilda, Betsy, Inez, Beulah, Camille, Celia, Agnes, Carmen, Fifi, Eloise, Anita, Greta, David, Frederic, Allen, Alicia, Elena, Gloria, Gilbert, Joan, Hugo, Diana, Klaus, Bob, Andrew, Luis, Marilyn, Opal, Roxane, Cesar, Fran, Hortense, Georges, Mitch, Floyd, Lenny, Keith, Allison, Iris, Michelle, Isidore, Lili, Fabian, Isabel, Juan, Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne, Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan, Wilma, Dean, Felix, Noel, Gustav, Ike, Paloma, Tomas, Igor, Irene, Sandy, Ingrid, Erika, Joaquin, Matthew, Otto, Harvey, Irma, Maria, Nate, Florence, Michael, Dorian, Laura, Eta, Iota, Ida, Ian, Fiona.