8 ATLANTIC REGION STORM NAMES T he World Meteorological Organization (WMO) maintains lists of hurricanes for each of the tropical cyclone prone areas of the world. The Atlantic area also includes the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. This action is in keeping with a convention that was agreed to in 1950 to formally name Atlantic hurricanes. A list was originally kept by the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) in the USA. The responsibility passed to the WMO in 1953. The storms and hurricanes are referred to as Tropical Cyclones. The National Hurricane Center (RSMC Miami, FL), is responsible for the Atlantic basin west of 30°W. If a disturbance intensifies into a tropical storm the Center will give the storm a name. In 1953, the United States abandoned a confusing two-year-old plan to name storms by a phonetic alphabet (Alpha, Brovo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, etc.). That year, the weather services began using female names for storms. The practice of naming hurricanes solely after women came to an end in 1978 when men’s and women’s names were included in the Eastern North Pacific storm lists. In 1979, male and female names were included in lists for the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. The list of names comprises 21 alternating names of men and women. The names of men were not included until 1979. A separate set is used each year beginning with the first name in the set. The list is re-cycled in the sixth year. This means that for example, a list used in 2019 is re-cycled in 2025. The names used in 2022 will be used in 2028 with any required changes. In terms of required changes, the names of hurricanes which prove deadly (loss of life) or costly in terms of damage are retired so they will not be confused with any subsequent storms that could carry the same names. It is also considered as gesture of human sensitivity. Whenever there was a need for more than 21 names in a season, the Greek alphabet was used. In cases in which storms occur in December they are given names from the list for the current season. On the other hand, storms which occur very early in the calendar year are given names from the next season’s list. The letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z are not included because of the scarcity of names beginning with those letters. If over 21 named tropical cyclones occur in a year, the Greek alphabet was used following the “W” name. However in 2022 a supplementary of names will be used and not the Greek alphabet. For several hundred years, many hurricanes in the West Indies were named after the particular saint’s day on which the hurricane occurred. Ivan R. Tannehill describes in his book Hurricanes the major tropical storms of recorded history and mentions many hurricanes named after saints. For example, there was “Hurricane Santa Ana” which struck Puerto Rico with exceptional violence on July 26, 1825, and “San Felipe” (the first) and “San Felipe” (the second) which hit Puerto Rico on September 13 in both 1876 and 1928. Continues on next page FOR 2022 Alex Bonnie Colin Danielle Earl Fiona Gaston Hermine Ian Julia Karl Lisa Martin Nicole Owen Paula Richard Shary Tobias Virginie Walter Supplemental names: Adria Braylen Caridad Deshawn Emery Foster Gemma Heath Isla Jacobus Kenzie Lucio Makayla Nolan Orlanda Pax Ronin Sophie Tayshaun Viviana Will
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