Here’s yet another problem brought on by our crazy weather: we’re almost out of names for new storms. We’re now up to 17 named storms for the season, and we aren’t even through September yet. The four remaining names are Stan, Tammy, Vince, and Wilma. I don’t think I’m ready for Hurricane Wilma.
What do we do if we run out of names? Go to the Greek alphabet, of course. We can have Hurricane Alpha and Tropical Storm Beta.
So far this season, there have been 17 named storms. Forecasters expect a total of 18 to 21 when the six-month season ends Nov. 30. But with conditions in the atmosphere and Atlantic ripe for storm development, there could be more.
Currently, there are six separate 21-name lists and each of them is used every six years in a rotation. They don’t include names that begin with q, u, x, y and z because there aren’t enough names starting with those letters.
Only once, since record-keeping began in 1851, have there been 21 tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic. That was in 1933 when forecasters didn’t regularly name storms.
What’s more, a storm name is retired if it causes widespread damage and deaths. So if there is a deadly Hurricane Alpha, what is it replaced with when it’s retired?
“It will go to the Swahili alphabet or something else,” joked Jim Lushine, severe weather expert at the National Weather Service in Miami.
These are the fun facts you learn when the weather goes haywire.
“If we get up into that league, we’ll have issues larger than naming these storms,” said Frank Lepore, spokesman for the National Hurricane Center in Miami. “The new phrase will be hurricane fatigue. Let’s coin that right now.”
I’m with Frank. Enough, already!
[...] We’re officially out of storm names for the year and will have to move on to the Greek alphabet if another one follows Wilma. [...]