Kristen's Classroom: Naming of hurricanes
AUSTIN (KXAN) – It’s a question we get every year once the season starts – who gets to decide the name of a hurricane? And why do we even name tropical systems in the first place?
The names of tropical storms and hurricanes are set well in advance. An international committee within the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the agency responsible for naming tropical systems, uses six rotating lists with predetermined names. There are sets of six for the Atlantic basin and a set of six for the Eastern Pacific basin.
Every six years, these lists are recycled. The exception to this would be a name of a storm that was so costly or deadly that the re-use of the name for a future storm would be insensitive. In this case, the name would be “retired,” and another name (beginning with the same letter) would be used to replace it.
Storms had been given “names” for over 100 years before the 20 century. It wasn’t until the 1950s did the U.S. began using female names for storms. By the end of the 1970s, alternating male and female names were used.
Why even use names? According to NOAA, “experience shows that the use of short, distinctive names in written as well as spoken communications is quicker and less subject to error.” Ultimately, the goal is to reduce confusion when messaging forecast information, especially when in a situation of multiple storms existing at the same time.
Atlantic tropical system names
Eastern Pacific tropical system names
Central Pacific tropical system names
Unlike the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific, the names of tropical systems in the Central Pacific are used one after the other, meaning when one list is exhausted, the next name is the top of the next list.
