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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
What are the storm names for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season?
There are 26 letters in the alphabet but only 21 are set aside each year for potential tropical storm and hurricane names in areas tracked by the National Hurricane Center. The names for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season are Andrea, Barry, Chantal, Dexter, Erin, Fernand, Gabrielle, Humberto, Imelda, Jerry, Karen, Lorenzo, Melissa, Nestor, Olga, Pablo, Rebekah, Sebastien, Tanya, Van and Wendy. There are no names for Q, U, X, Y and Z, and each of the 21 names alternate from female to male. This year starts with a female name and next year will begin with a male name. If some of this year's names seem familiar, it's because each year's names are decided six years out by an international committee of the World Meteorological Organization. If a storm name isn't retired after a season it recycles. This year, for instance, the WMO Hurricane Committee retired Beryl, Helene and Milton from its Atlantic basin name list 'because of the death and destruction these storms caused in 2024,' according to a WMO press release. They were replaced by Brianna, Holly and Miguel — but those won't be used until 2030. Hurricane Debby, though, which struck Florida's Big Bend in August, remains on the potential storm names list for 2030. The storm was blamed for 12 deaths but was nowhere near as destructive as Helene or Milton. So a good chunk of the storm names used in 2019 are getting reused this year. Andrea, for instance, had been used in 2019, 2013 and 2007. The only new name in 2025 is Dexter, which replaced Dorian, a deadly and destructive Category 5 hurricane that wreaked havoc in the Bahamas in 2019. If there are more than 21 named storms, WMO initiated a supplemental list first available in 2021 for new storm names. They are Adria, Braylen, Caridad, Deshawn, Emery, Foster, Gemma, Heath, Isla, Jacobus, Kenzie, Lucio, Makayla, Nolan, Orlanda, Pax, Ronin, Sophie, Tayshaun, Viviana and Will. Before 2021, if there were more than 21 named storms in a year it would take on a letter from the Greek alphabet for its name: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon and so forth. Only twice has NHC utilized the spillover list. First in 2005 when it used six letters of the Greek alphabet, and again in 2020 when it required nine letters including Zeta, Eta, Theta and Iota. That was deemed potentially confusing and dangerous and thus begat the new augmented naming system. The NHC began naming storms in 1963. In addition to 2019's Dorian and last year's Beryl, Helene and Milton, the other retired storm names over the last decade are 2022's Fiona and Ian; 2021's Ida; 2020's Laura, Eta and Iota; 2018's Florence and Michael; 2017's Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate; 2016's Matthew; and Otto and 2015's Erika and Joaquin. Other storms that have struck Florida whose names were retired include 2005's Dennis, Katrina and Wilma; 2004's Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne; 1995's Opal; and 1992's Andrew.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Andrea, Jerry, Wendy: Here's what hurricanes will be named in 2025
Hurricane season starts on June 1 and ends November 30. We already know the list of names that have been chosen for storms this year. The names are reused every six years, except if a name is retired due to storm severity. Hurricane season will soon be bearing down on us, and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) already has a list of potential hurricane names this year. There are 21 names that have been pre-selected, one for almost every letter of the alphabet (the WMO skips Q, U, X, Y, and Z names, because there aren't at least six suitable names starting with those letters). The list cycles every six years, meaning the last time some of these names were seen was in 2019. If there are more than 21 storms warranting a name this year, there's a list of supplemental names, which is a relatively recent change. Before 2021, if the list of names ran out, the storms would then be named after the Greek alphabet. Andrea Barry Chantal Dexter Erin Fernand Gabrielle Humberto Imelda Jerry Karen Lorenzo Melissa Nestor Olga Pablo Rebekah Sebastien Tanya Van Wendy The only change from 2019 is that Dorian was retired after Hurricane Dorian decimated the Bahamas that September. It caused over $5 billion in damage across the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, and at least 77 deaths. The naming system as we know it today began in 1953, when the National Hurricane Center created a list of all traditionally female names, which explains why some of the names seem old-fashioned. Atlas Obscura reported that this practice was rooted in sexism and the perceived "unpredictability" of both hurricanes and women. It took another 26 years for male names to be added to the list. Now, the storms alternate between traditionally male and female names. Per the WMO, there are four main characteristics a name must have to be added to the list of potentials. They should be "easy to pronounce" and" short in character length for ease of use in communication," and should also be unique to the Western hemisphere and have "appropriate significance in different languages." In other words, a name can't mean something offensive in a language other than English. It takes a lot for a name to be retired. A hurricane needs to make a "major impact," according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Then any country the storm affected can request for the name to be retired, or the WMO can decide itself. In some cases, a storm doesn't even need to be a hurricane to be retired — the name "Allison" was retired in 2002 after Tropical Storm Allison caused billions of dollars in damage in Texas. In the 2020s, nine storm names have been retired: Laura, Eta, Iota, Ida, Fiona, Ian, Beryl, Helene, and Milton. The above is just a list of potential Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms. There are even more names for storms up and down the Pacific, which are called cyclones or typhoons depending on their location. However, as hurricanes affect the US more significantly than those storms, we focused on the hurricane names here. The Atlantic hurricane season starts on June 1 this year and ends on November 30. Hurricanes are getting more powerful as the climate crisis continues. AccuWeather predicted "volatile" hurricanes are coming this year and forecasted that "near to above the historical average number of named storms" will hit the US. As such, it's time to prepare for hurricane season if you live in a high-risk area: Know your evacuation routes, have emergency kits ready, and find out where your designated local shelter is. Read the original article on Business Insider
