What do the names Beulah, Andrew, Camille, Felix, Katrina and Hugo all have in common? They were all names given to some of the most deadly and destructive hurricanes in US weather history and whose names have since been retired.
Over the years, new names have been added in their place and still many others have emerged as candidates for lists maintained by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season officially starts June 1 and this year is forecast to be an exceptionally active season.
Here are the 21 names for the 2024 season:
| Alberto | Leslie |
| Beryl | Milton |
| Chris | Nadine |
| Debby | Oscar |
| Ernesto | Patty |
| Francine | Rafael |
| Gordon | Sara |
| Helene | Tony |
| Isaac | Valerie |
| Joyce | William |
| Kirk |
For Atlantic basin hurricanes, the WMO oversees six rotating lists of names, alternating between traditionally used male and female names. For example, this season’s hurricane names will be used again in 2030. The WMO will often retire the names of hurricanes that cause severe loss of life or property, such as Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Camille. An international committee of the WMO will then select other names are replacements.
If more than 21 Atlantic storms develop in any given season and all of the names have been exhausted, then an alternate or supplemental list of WMO-approved names will be used after “William.” A supplemental list has never been used.
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The 2024 alternate list includes:
| Adria | Lucio |
| Braylen | Makayla |
| Caridad | Nolan |
| Deshawn | Orlanda |
| Emery | Pax |
| Foster | Ronin |
| Gemma | Sophie |
| Heath | Tayshaun |
| Isla | Viviana |
| Jacobus | Will |
| Kenzie |
The Switzerland-based WMO is a United Nations agency that has given tropical storms and subsequent hurricanes their names since the hurricane naming convention was established in the early 1950s as a means of raising public awareness of severe weather events and avoiding confusion among meteorologists, the media and public.
“When selecting a new name, consideration is given to certain factors,” such as being short in character length for ease of use in communication; must be easy to pronounce; appropriate significance in different languages; and uniqueness – same names cannot be used in other regions.
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Names starting with the letters Q, U, X, Y and Z are not used because “it is difficult to find six suitable names (one for each of the six rotating lists),” according to the WMO.
Separate lists of names are created for Eastern North Pacific and Central North Pacific basin hurricanes.
And for those wondering if you can have a tropical storm named for you? The short answer is: “no.”
Marianne Mizera can be reached at marianne.mizera@globe.com. Follow her @MareMizera.