The naming of hurricanes has evolved for reasons that are both practical and political.
For several hundred years, hurricanes in the West Indies were named after saints' days. In his book Hurricanes, Ivan Tannehill notes the hurricane that pounded Puerto Rico on July 26, 1825, was named Hurricane Santa Ana, for Saint Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary.
For many years, hurricanes were simply known by the order in which they appeared in a particular season (hurricane 1, 2, etc.) or by its location (the storm 250 miles south-southwest of Tampa). By 1950, the U.S. government decided names would be used, partly to make public notification easier, especially when more than one storm was active, and partly to simplify communications between monitoring stations and ships. Once a storm has winds of 39 mph or higher, it becomes a tropical storm and is named. Storms become hurricanes when sustained wind speeds reach 75 mph.
So in 1950, 1951 and 1952, we had storms named alphabetically, but in military speak: Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog, East, Fox, George, How, Item, Jig, King, Love. It didn't catch on, and by 1953 the government's meteorologists were looking for something new.
Enter the female naming convention.
Using women's names for storms was first promoted in the late 1800s by Australian meteorologist Clement Wragge, Tannehill writes. It didn't stick, but was re-introduced by novelist George Stewart in the 1941 book Storms. During World War II, Air Force and Navy meteorologists started using women's names for the storms they plotted on the Pacific Ocean.
So 1953 gave us Alice, Barbara, Carol, Dolly, Edna, Florence, Gail and Hazel. The same names were used in 1954. Apparently tiring of the repeated use, the government began naming storms differently every year. In 1955, it was Alice, but then Brenda, Connie, Diane, Edith and so on. In 1956, Anna, Betsy, Carla, Dora, Ethel, Flossy and Greta.
This pattern continued until 1978, when women's groups convinced government officials that naming all storms after women was sexist. NOAA agreed to alternate the use of women's and men's names, and on June 24, 1978, a Pacific hurricane was dubbed Bud. A year later, Hurricane Bob formed in the Gulf and slammed Louisiana on July 11. David, Frederic and Henri also made appearances that year.
Six lists are now used in rotation, and are maintained by the World Meteorological Organization. The list changes only when a storm is so deadly that it is deemed inappropriate for the name to be used again. Any country affected by such a storm can ask that the storm name be retired. For example, this year's list of names was first used in 1986, though in that year the first storm was Andrew. After Hurricane Andrew devastated South Florida in 1992, it was retired.
Also on the retired name list: Agnes (1972), Alicia (1983), Allen (1980), Allison (2001), Anita (1977), Audrey (1957), Betsy (1965), Beulah (1967), Bob (1991), Camille (1969), Carla (1961), Carmen (1974), Carol (1954), Celia (1970), Cesar (1996), Cleo (1964), Connie (1955), David (1979), Diana (1990), Diane (1955), Donna (1960), Dora (1964), Edna (1968), Elena (1985), Eloise (1975), Fifi (1974), Flora (1963), Floyd (1999), Fran (1996), Frederic (1979), Georges (1998), Gilbert (1988), Gloria (1985), Gracie (1959), Hattie (1961), Hazel (1954), Hilda (1964), Hortense (1996), Hugo (1989), Inez (1966), Ione (1955), Iris (2001), Janet (1955), Joan (1988), Keith (2000), Klaus (1990), Lenny (1999), Lili (2002), Luis (1995), Marilyn (1995), Michelle (2001), Mitch (1998), Opal (1995), Roxanne (1995).
Sources: www.nhc.noaa.com Tropical Storms of the North Atlantic Ocean, Weather Research Center
2004 hurricane names
Alex
Bonnie
Charley
Danielle
Earl
Frances
Gaston
Hermine
Ivan
Jeanne
Karl
Lisa
Matthew
Nicole
Otto
Paula
Richard
Shary
Tomas
Virginie
Walter
[Last modified June 2, 2004, 13:00:12]
Related stories
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
