Who gives names to hurricanes and how

Photo: NOAA NWS National Hurricane Center

Hurricane Irma, which struck the islands of the Caribbean and Florida, is called the strongest in the Atlantic in the entire history of observations, moreover, it brought terrible destruction and led to dozens of deaths. It is possible that his name will never again be used by meteorologists to name hurricanes in the future, so as not to remind people of the tragic events.

Edition "Voice of America»Talked about how and why hurricanes get their names.

Why hurricanes names

Initially, the name is given to the storm, which further weakens or develops into a hurricane. Unnamed storms and hurricanes would greatly complicate the lives of meteorologists, researchers, ship captains, rescuers, and just ordinary people. Names facilitate communication, which means they increase safety. That is why the World Meteorological Organization has created a special list of names for the elements, which is updated every year.

How the hurricanes were called before the naming system

Often, hurricanes were called by the names of saints. For example, the hurricane that reached Puerto Rico on July 26 1825 of the year, on the day of St. Anne, was so called - St. Anna. Sometimes the name of the area that suffered the most was chosen as the name. And sometimes the name was dictated by the form of a hurricane. That is how 1935 got its name Hurricane Pin.

How many names are in the list

Every year the list includes the 21 name — by the number of all letters in the alphabet, except Q, U, X, Y, and Z — they are not used. The names are used in order: the first storm of the season is called by name, which begins on A, the second - on B, and so on.

And what if all the letters in the alphabet run out?

This happens very rarely: usually the number of tropical storms and hurricanes does not exceed 21. If this does happen, the Greek alphabet comes to the rescue. Hurricanes are named Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, etc.

When are hurricanes called female names, and when - male?

At first, hurricanes were exclusively "women." Assigning female names to natural disasters began by military meteorologists during World War II. In 1953, this method was officially approved. But since 1978, after the lawsuit, the situation has changed: male names have started to be given to hurricanes.

How many names have “spent” meteorologists this year?

For the Atlantic coast, the list of hurricane names on 2017 is as follows: Arlene, Brett, Cindy, Emily, Franklin, Harvey, Irma, Jose, Katya, Lee, Maria, Ophelia, Philip, Rina, Sin, Tammy, Vince and Whitney. Now Florida and Georgia are experiencing the effects of a hurricane named Irma. Storms Jose and Katya have already formed in the Atlantic and got their names. That is, the 9 names from the 2017 list of the year are still unused.

Can the name of a hurricane "resign"?

Maybe if the element was too destructive. In this case, reusing the same name may be too painful for the victims. For example, the hurricane named Katrina will no longer be. He was removed from the list of names and will never be used in the future. It is likely that the same fate awaits the names of Harvey and Irma.

Read also on ForumDaily:

The most powerful hurricanes over the Atlantic since 1980 of the year

10 things worth having in the house so as not to be afraid of the hurricane and the flood

Catastrophic hurricanes in the USA: how man and nature are to blame

Why hurricane Irma is so powerful and other questions about the elements

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.