Hurricane Names

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Only 10 hurricanes since 1851 have passed within 75 miles of Boston. The most recent was almost exactly 20 years ago: Hurricane Bob.

When you think about it, it may seem curious that hurricanes and tropical storms receive names each year, while other kinds of storms -- such as severe thunderstorms and the fierce tornadoes they sometimes produce -- do not.

After all, the largest and most intense thunderstorms can spawn dozens of tornadoes that impact cities and communities across multiple states. So why are names reserved only for those storms that reach tropical storm and hurricane status? Why not simply use the date on which a hurricane makes landfall as its name?

In fact, that's just how hurricanes and tropical storms were labeled in the United States all the way up until the 1950s.

Before 1950, military weather forecasters in the U.S. were responsible for assigning a number, not a name, to tropical storms. For example, the fifth tropical cyclone of the 1932 hurricane season was called Hurricane Number 5. In later years, the military phonetic alphabet (Able, Baker, Charlie, etc.) 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 Atlantic Basin list of names was expanded to include both male and female names. Today, once a tropical disturbance intensifies to tropical storm strength, with wind speeds above 39 mph, the National Hurricane Center gives it a name.

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's and women's names alternates every year. For example, in 1995 the list began with Allison. In 1996, it began with Arthur.

In the event that more than 21 named tropical cyclones occur in the Atlantic basin in a season, additional storms will take names from the Greek alphabet: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and so on.

Occasionally, a name is retired from the list when an associated hurricane has caused many deaths or a tremendous amount of damage. Some retired names include Andrew, Bob, Camille, David, Dennis, Elena, Fran, Frederic, Katrina, Hugo, Ivan, Opal, Rita, Stan, and Wilma.

Source: www.weather.com/ 08/24/2011