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2020 Hurricane Names For The Season.

Jun 1, 2020

Image: Hurricane Joaquin Oct 2015 - usgs.gov
 
Have you ever wondered why tropical storms and hurricanes are given names asks this article from farmersalmanac.com? It’s not to make these disastrous storms seem friendlier, that’s for sure. Storms are given names to make them easier to remember. But who picks the names?
 
How Are Storms Named?
 
Prior to the 1950s, meteorologists kept track of hurricanes and tropical storms by the year and the storms’ order for that year. So, for instance, the fifth tropical storm of 1938 was referred to as just that — the “fifth tropical storm of 1938” or “Storm 5.”
 
Tropical storms and hurricanes that did a lot of damage received unofficial names—like the 1926 Great Miami Hurricane, which did so much damage that the Miami government implemented the first known building code in the United States.
 
During the 1950s, meteorologists realized that it was difficult to keep track of unnamed storms—particularly if there was more than one storm happening at any given time. By 1953, meteorologists around the United States were using names for tropical storms and cyclones.
 
In those days, the storm names were all female. Both male and female names were used for Northern Pacific storms in 1978, and by 1979, male and female names were being used for Atlantic storms, too.
 
The World Meteorological Organization is responsible for developing the names for both Northern Pacific and Atlantic storms. They use six lists of names for Atlantic Ocean and Eastern North Pacific storms. These lists rotate, one each year.
 
That means every six years, the names cycle back around and get reused (which happened in 2019). If a hurricane does tremendous damage, such as Katrina, Sandy, or Harvey, the name is retired and replaced by a different name beginning with the same letter (After 2019, Dorian will most likely be added to the list of retired names).
 
The names alternate between male and female names, listed alphabetically and in chronological order starting with A and omitting Q and U, X, Y, and Z.  If more than 21 names are required during a season, the Greek alphabet is used.
 
Tropical Storms vs. Hurricanes
 
The National Hurricane Center explains that names are only given to tropical storms that have sustained wind speeds higher than 39 mph. These names will stay with the storm as it reaches hurricane strength (maximum sustained winds of 74 mph or higher). This means Tropical Storm Debby, for example, will become Hurricane Debby if it reaches maturity.
 
The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins June 1st, peaks September 10th, and ends November 30th, although hurricanes can form at any time.
 
List of 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Names:
 
These names were recycled from the 2014 season. Did your name make the list?
 
Arthur
Bertha
Cristobal
Dolly
Edouard
Fay
Gonzalo
Hanna
Isaias
Josephine
Kyle
Laura
Marco
Nana
Omar
Paulette
Rene
Sally
Teddy
Vicky
Wilfred

 


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