Hurricane names 2024: Here’s why the list may look familiar
TAMPA, Fla. - The 2024 hurricane season is expected to be one of the most active on record, with a predicted 23 names that may look familiar.
The list of hurricane names is rotated every six years, so the 2024 list will be a repeat of 2018 except for Florence and Michael. Those names were retired due to the damage the storms caused.
What are the 2024 hurricane names?
Alberto
Beryl
Chris
Debby
Ernesto
Francine
Gordon
Helene
Isaac
Joyce
Kirk
Leslie
Milton
Nadine
Oscar
Patty
Rafael
Sara
Tony
Valerie
William
Why are hurricanes named?
According to the National Hurricane Center, using short, distinctive names in written and verbal communication is quicker and more accurate than using older, more cumbersome latitude-longitude identification methods. Plus, the organization states that using easily remembered names reduces confusion when two or more storms are happening simultaneously.
NHC says for several hundred years, hurricanes in the West Indies were named after saints.
Closer to home, military meteorologists initially used a haphazard system involving the phonetic alphabet to name storms – such as hurricanes Baker, Dog, and Easy in 1950.
The United States Weather Bureau, now called the National Weather Service, began creating more familiar lists of storm names in 1953. They were all women’s names at first, but that changed in 1978 at the direction of then-Secretary of Commerce Juanita Kreps.
READ: How the fading El Nino pattern will impact hurricane season activity in 2024
The 21-name lists – one for each letter of the alphabet, minus the less-common letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z – are now maintained and updated by an international committee of the World Meteorological Organization.
A permanent 6-year storm list began in 1979. The names repeat, but if a storm is particularly costly or deadly, it is removed from the list, or retired. When that happens, the WMO committee selects a name beginning with the same letter to replace it.
What happens if the hurricane names run out?
Until 2020, when all the hurricane names were used, the Greek alphabet came into play, and storms were called Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Zeta, Eta, Theta, etc. That happened twice - once in 2005 and again in 2020.
Now, instead of using the Greek alphabet, a list of supplemental tropical cyclone names will be used.
What happens if a storm forms outside of hurricane season?
Hurricane season begins June 1 and runs through Nov. 30. If a storm forms outside of those dates, it will assume the next name on the list depending on the year. For example, if a storm forms in December, it will be called the next name on that year's list. If it forms in February, it will take a name from the upcoming season.
What hurricane names are retired?
Agnes 1972
Alicia 1983
Allen 1980
Allison 2001
Andrew 1992
Anita 1977
Audrey 1957
Betsy 1965
Beulah 1967
Bob 1991
Camille 1969
Carla 1961
Carmen 1974
Carol 1954
Celia 1970
Cesar 1996
Charley 2004
Cleo 1964
Connie 1955
David 1979
Dean 2007
Dennis 2005
Diana 1990
Diane 1955
Donna 1960
Dora 1964
Dorian 2019
Edna 1954
Elena 1985
Eloise 1975
Erika 2015
Eta 2020
Fabian 2003
Felix 2007
Fifi 1974
Fiona 2022
Flora 1963
Florence 2018
Floyd 1999
Fran 1996
Frances 2004
Frederic 1979
Georges 1998
Gilbert 1988
Gloria 1985
Greta 1978
Gustav 2008
Harvey 2017
Hattie 1961
Hazel 1954
Hilda 1964
Hortense 1996
Hugo 1989
Ian 2022
Ida 2021
Igor 2010
Ike 2008
Inez 1966
Ingrid 2013
Ione 1955
Iota 2020
Irene 2011
Iris 2001
Irma 2017
Isabel 2003
Isidore 2002
Ivan 2004
Janet 1955
Jeanne 2004
Joan 1988
Joaquin 2015
Juan 2003
Katrina 2005
Keith 2000
Klaus 1990
Laura 2020
Lenny 1999
Lili 2002
Luis 1995
Maria 2017
Marilyn 1995
Matthew 2016
Michael 2018
Michelle 2001
Mitch 1998
Nate 2017
Noel 2007
Opal 1995
Otto 2016
Paloma 2008
Rita 2005
Roxanne 1995
Sandy 2012
Stan 2005
Tomas 2010
Wilma 2005
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