

How and why storms are named Forecasters give names to tropical cyclones, including hurricanes, to avoid confusion when more than one storm is being followed at the same time. While it might be cute to think that a forecaster will tag a storm with his ex-wife's name, or the name of a neighbor he dislikes, the system is much more formal, if not downright bureaucratic. Tropical cyclones are the only storms that forecasters name. Hurricanes are tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Basin (Atlantic, Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico) and in the Pacific east of the International Date Line. Typhoons are tropical cyclones over the northern Pacific west of the date line. Tropical cyclones in the South Pacific and over the Indian Ocean are just called cyclones. (Related: What is a tropical cyclone?) A storm is named when it reaches tropical storm strength with winds of 39 mph, and becomes a hurricane or typhoon when its wind speed reaches 74 mph. Tornadoes come and go so quickly - usually in minutes - that forecasters don't have time to name them. Extratropical storms don't bring the concentrated violence of hurricanes, although a few can leave major damage, especilly blizzards. Back in the old days Before they started naming storms, hurricane forecasters had to refer to storms by saying something like, "the storm 500 miles east-southeast of Miami." But six hours later the storm's position would change. When more than one storm was going on at the same time, making it clear which storm was being described made the job even harder. Before official names began, some forecasters informally named storms without making the names public. This made it easier for the forecasters to follow storms, but it didn't help make clear to the public which storm was which. Organized naming began in 1950 Forecasters formally begin naming Atlantic Basin in 1950, using names from the international phonetic alphabet of the time: Able, Baker, Charlie, and so on. They started using female, English-language names in 1953, and switched to alternating male and female names in 1979. They also began using French and Spanish male and female names at this time. (Related: This year's Atlantic Basin, eastern Pacific names) A sidelight: The first three male names used -- Bob, David and Frederick -- have all been retired because they did tremendous damage. Frederick and David were retired because of the damage they did in 1979. Bob was retired after Hurricane Bob hit New England in 1991. (Related: Retired Atlantic Basin names) How today's names are selected The World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) Regional Association IV Hurricane Committee selects the names for Atlantic Basin and central and eastern Pacific storms. For the Atlantic Basin and the eastern Pacific, six lists of names are used, with each list used again - minus any retired names - six years after it was last used. The WMO's regional committee selects the names to replaces those that are retired. Each year the names start with the "A" storm on that year's list, no matter how many names were used the previous year. Hawaiian names are used for central Pacific storms. Here, a revolving list of four sets of names is used and each storm that forms gets the next available name on the list, regardless of the year. Similar WMO regional committees are involved in selecting names for other parts of the world, but not all nations involved go along with these names. (Related: Global names list) While most naming systems use common first names, in various languages, nations around the western Pacific began using an entirely new system for naming typhoons in 2000. Each of the 14 nations that typhoons affect submitted a list of names for a total of 141 names. The names include animals, flowers, astrological signs and a few personal names. (Related: Western Pacific typhoon names) Source: Hurricane Watch: Forecasting the Deadliest Storms on Earth