Have you ever wondered why there hasn’t been a hurricane named after you? Personally, I’m thankful not to have my name associated, but it didn’t stop me from wondering why? First of all “Tropical Storms” are named not “Hurricanes”. Tropical Storms (storms that reach sustained wind levels of 39 mph) are given names that carry over when they reach Hurricane status (sustained winds @ 74 mph). Sandy was “Tropical Storm Sandy” before she turned into” Hurricane Sandy”. As you can imagine, there are many more “Tropical Storms” than “Hurricanes” each year.

We are not trying to be insensitive to what is going on around us at the moment.  Sometimes, we need to look at the lighter side of things.  We here at NDH are wishing everyone safety and a quick recovery from the “Storm”.

In 1978, after many years of tropical storm name confusion the meteorologists studying the storms came up with a system that made sense. In the beginning, storms were only named after ladies and then in 1979 they decided to add men’s names to the list as well. They came up with 6 lists of 21 names alternating using the alphabet & excluding the letters excluding; Q, U, X, Y & Z. The first “Tropical Storm” of the year started with the letter “A” and next “B” and so on and so on! Even numbered years, like 2012, start with a male name and odd numbered years start things off with the ladies.

Sandy is the 18th storm of 2012 and “Tony” is next on the list. If for some reason we go through all 21 names on the list, which is very uncommon, then we move on to the Greek Alphabet: Alpha Beta, Gama, Delta etc…

Is your name on the list maintained by the World Meteorological Organization of Atlantic hurricane names? They have six lists which are reused every six years & here they are through 2017:

The names typically do not change, but on occasion they are retired. If a storm has been devastating out of respect for families and friends and cities and towns that name is removed from the list. You will never see another; “Isabel”, “Iren e” or “Katrina”, just to name a few.

 Here’s a list of other names you won’t be seeing:

Hurricanes that have caused so much devastation that their name was retired!

There are separate naming systems for the other Regions including not limited to; Eastern North Pacific Storms and Central North Pacific Storms. For more information about the names used in these regions check the National Hurricane Center.

The information in this article was retained from http://geology.com/hurricanes/hurricane-names.shtml check it out for more detailed information.