Hurricane Names
What's in a name? Naming of tropical storms and hurricanes has been going on for centuries. Hurricanes that swept through the Caribbean were often named for the saint's day on which they occurred.
Once a tropical disturbance intensifies to tropical storm strength, with wind speeds above 39 miles per hour, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) gives the tropical cyclone a name.
Prior to 1950, military weather forecasters assigned a number, not a name, to tropical storms. For example, the fifth tropical cyclone of the 1932 hurricane season was called "Hurricane Number 5." For a short time, the military phonetic alphabet, such as Able, Baker, and Charlie was used to assign names.
Beginning in 1953, tropical storms were assigned female names. Names were listed in alphabetical order, with the first tropical storm of the year given a name beginning with "A."
In 1978, both men's and women's names were included in the eastern North Pacific storm lists. In 1979, the list of names was expanded to include both male and female names in the Atlantic Basin.
Member nations of The World Meteorological Organization have since revised the list to include names common to English, Spanish, and French speaking peoples. The order of men and women alternates every year. For example, in 1995 the list began with Allison. In 1996, it began with Arthur.
There are six lists of tropical cyclone names, each composed of 23 names from A to W. The lists are used on a rotating basis. For instance, the 1997 set will be used again to name storms in the year 2003.
If a tropical storm forms in the Atlantic and crosses over to the Pacific, it will be given a new name.
Occasionally, a name is retired from the list when a particular tropical cyclone has caused many deaths or a tremendous amount of damage. Some retired names include Andrew, Bob, Camille, David, Elena, Frederic, Opal, Fran, and Hugo.
Hurricanes are evaluated in a number of ways. Storms are assigned a category based on winds, storm surge and barometric pressure, using the Saffir-Simpson scale.
Category 1 storms have winds of 74-95 miles per hour, making them the weakest of hurricanes. Even these storms can generate a storm surge of 4 or 5 feet above normal high tide.
Category 2 storms have winds of up to 110 miles per hour, and can push a storm surge of 6 to 8 feet.
Category 3 storm winds can reach 130 miles per hour. This is the cutoff for "major" hurricanes, with commensurate storm surge potential of 9 to 12 feet.
Category 4 winds can be as high as 155 miles per hour, and such a storm brings a 13 to 18 foot storm surge.
Category 5 storms, with winds greater than 155 miles per hour, are very rare. These monsters can have storm surges of over 20 feet. Only 2 such hurricanes have hit the U.S. this century - Camille in 1969 and Labor Day Storm of 1935.
Below is a list of Atlantic Ocean retired names, the years the hurricanes occurred, and the areas they affected. There are, however, a great number of destructive storms that occurred before hurricanes were first named in 1950, that are not included on this list.
Atlantic Storms Retired Into Hurricane History
Agnes (1972+*): Florida, Northeast U.S.
Alicia (1983*): North Texas
Allen (1980*): Antilles, Mexico, South Texas
Andrew (1992*): Bahamas, South Florida, Louisiana
Anita (1977): Mexico
Audrey (1957+*): Louisiana, North Texas
Betsy (1965+*): Bahamas, Southeast Florida, Southeast Louisiana
Beulah (1967*): Antilles, Mexico, South Texas
Bob (1991*): North Carolina & Northeast U.S.
Camille (1969+*): Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama
Carla (1961+*): Texas
Carmen (1974): Mexico, Central Louisiana
Carol (1954+*): Northeast U.S.
Celia (1970*): South Texas
Cesar (1996): Nicaragua
Cleo (1964*): Lesser Antilles, Haiti, Cuba, Southeast Florida
Connie (1955+): North Carolina
David (1979): Lesser Antilles, Hispañola, Florida and Eastern U.S.
Diana (1990): Mexico
Diane (1955+*): Mid-Atlantic U.S. & Northeast U.S.
Donna (1960+*): Bahamas, Florida and Eastern U.S.
Dora (1964*): Northeast Florida
Elena (1985*): Mississippi, Alabama, Western Florida
Eloise (1975*): Antilles, Northwest Florida, Alabama
Flora (1963): Haiti, Cuba
Floyd (1999): North Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey
Fran (1996): North Carolina
Frederic (1979*): Alabama and Mississippi
Georges (1998): Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida
Gilbert (1988): Lesser Antilles, Jamaica, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
Gloria (1985*): North Carolina, Northeast U.S.
Hattie (1961): Belize, Guatemala
Hazel (1954+*): Antilles, North and South Carolina
Hilda (1964+*): Louisiana
Hortense (1996): Caribbean, Puerto Rico
Hugo (1989*): Antilles, South Carolina
Inez (1966): Lesser Antilles, Hispanola, Cuba, Florida Keys, Mexico
Ione (1955*): North Carolina
Janet (1955): Lesser Antilles, Belize, Mexico
Joan (1988): Curacao, Venezuela, Colombia, Nicaragua (Crossed into the Pacific and became Miriam)
Klaus (1990): Martinique
Lenny (1999): Caribbean
Luis (1995): Leeward Islands
Marilyn (1995): U.S. Virgin Islands
Mitch (1998): Central America, Nicaragua, Honduras
Opal (1995): Florida, Alabama
