There’s no denying that Hurricanes appear very often, in fact there are some situations where 2-3 Hurricanes are active simultaneously. But trying to differentiate Hurricanes from one another can be difficult, which is why researchers had to rely on the use of names. However, naming these natural events can be quite tricky, which is why the World Meteorological Organization has created a list with some of the names, all of which are assigned in alphabetical order.
It’s important to note that some of the names might be repeated after 6 years, however the more relevant storms and hurricanes such as El Nino will retain their name indefinitely.
In the 1950, people started to assign these names based on a formal list that has to be approved by the WMO. At first, Hurricanes were basically named based on their latitude and longitude numbers. While it was easy for scientists to track the hurricane, people found it very hard to figure out what hurricane is hitting and how intense it might be.
The US national Hurricane Center started the naming practice in the 50s based on a phonetic alphabet and names were used for the same hurricane each season. But since different hurricanes took place at different times, the practice didn’t really pay off very well in the longer term. In order to make sure that there would be no repetition, the system had to be revised in 1953. This change stated that all hurricanes had to bring in a female name.
This move was similar to the naval meteorologist moves that named storms after women as well. This dis last for a few decades, and thankfully it was during 1979 when the system was finally revised in order to include female names.
Storms are usually given names when they have a rotating circulation pattern and when the wind speed reaches at least 39 miles per hour. This can easily develop into a hurricane when it gets almost double the speed mentioned above.
It’s important to note that hurricanes all over the world are given names. Each region comes with its own set of names, for example the North Pacific ones are named Agatha, Blas, Celia, Darby, Estelle, Frank and so on. The Atlantic Hurricanes have names like Alex, Bonnie, Colin, Danielle, Earl and Fiona among many others.
The reason why Hurricanes receive names is to track them faster and in a much better fashion. The WMO is under complete control of the naming system and it does a very good job at taking complete control over the process and making it distinct and powerful. Since names are reused each 6 years, you can find some hurricanes coming under a different name at times. But things like this might happen at times, which is why the WMO system is always perfecting itself. One thing is certain, naming Hurricanes is very important as it does allow us to identify and tackle any potential threats fast and with great results!