# Hurricanes: Marching down the list **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-marching-down-the-list/259891 "2004-08-15T01:31:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Juniper200](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@Juniper200](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Juniper200)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-marching-down-the-list/259891/1 "2004-08-15T01:31:41Z")
We’re having a discussion here at the copy desk about hurricanes, and some of us were wondering what year got the furthest down the list of [storm names](http://kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/hurricane/names.html) . I’m having trouble getting a quick google answer; I know 1968 had the most hurricanes (12), but that doesn’t include tropical storms that year. Have we ever made it down to Hurricane Walter or Tropical Storm Wanda? Has Tropical Depression 20 ever given up the stage to Hurricane Thomas? Settle our pool please, Dopers. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-marching-down-the-list/259891/2 "2004-08-15T02:14:08Z")
[Nineteen tropical storms in 1995 in the Atlantic basin.](http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/E11.html) The Pacific basin has a separate list. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-marching-down-the-list/259891/3 "2004-08-15T02:15:10Z")
> [@](#): > > “Thirteen named storms in 1996 ties four other years – most recently 1984-- as the ninth most active Atlantic season since records began in 1886. This puts 1996 easily within the top ten percent of our 110-year record,” said Bob Burpee, director of the National Hurricane Center. > > A tropical storm is named when its sustained surface wind speed reaches 39 mph. It is classified as a hurricane when its wind speed reaches 74 mph. [http://www.usatoday.com/weather/whs1996.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/weather/whs1996.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-marching-down-the-list/259891/4 "2004-08-15T02:16:13Z")
Geez…I got learn to read better. ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-marching-down-the-list/259891/5 "2004-08-15T02:17:50Z")
[This](http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/hurricane/sns-hc-history-1995.story) news article says that 1995 had the most named storms (19). So if my calculations are correct (taking into account your link, which says that certain letters are always skipped), that makes it a “T” storm. And according to [this](http://www.wordiq.com/definition/1995_Atlantic_hurricane_season) link, that would have made it Hurricane Tanya. Doesn’t exactly strike fear, but hey… ---
**Author:** ![pOpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6de8d8/32.png) [@pOpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pOpus)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-marching-down-the-list/259891/6 "2004-08-15T02:21:42Z")
1933 was the most active on record, with a total of 21 tropical storms/hurricanes. Unfortunately, storms weren’t named then. If current naming conventions were used back then, that season would have exhausted the entire list of names. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-marching-down-the-list/259891/7 "2004-08-15T02:40:08Z")
> [@Nightwatch Trailer](#): > > [This](http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/weather/hurricane/sns-hc-history-1995.story) news article says that 1995 had the most named storms (19). So if my calculations are correct (taking into account your link, which says that certain letters are always skipped), that makes it a “T” storm. And according to [this](http://www.wordiq.com/definition/1995_Atlantic_hurricane_season) link, that would have made it Hurricane Tanya. Doesn’t exactly strike fear, but hey… Your last link states explicitly that the last one in that year was Hurricane Tanya. If more than 21 TS’s occur in one season (God forbid!), I wonder if they’d name the 22d one Alex A or Alex 2. I couldn’t find the answer at the AOML site or at the TPC site. ---
**Author:** ![Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9dc877/32.png) [@Nightwatch\_Trailer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightwatch_Trailer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-marching-down-the-list/259891/8 "2004-08-15T02:40:19Z")
Err…ignore my first link, as the second one contains all the necessary information. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-marching-down-the-list/259891/9 "2004-08-15T02:40:38Z")
> [@pOpus](#): > > If current naming conventions were used back then, that season would have exhausted the entire list of names. 😕 From **Juniper200** ’s link: > [@](#): > > The letters “Q”, “U”, “X”, “Y” and “Z”, however, are not used. There will _never_ be a hurricane Xena. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Cds456](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@Cds456](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cds456)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-marching-down-the-list/259891/10 "2004-08-20T18:13:22Z")
This is my favorite trivia question of all time (partly because I like to study weather and whatnot) What happens if there is over 21 named storms in the Atlantic (or Pacific too, I think)? [http://www.erh.noaa.gov/box/hurricane-names.html](http://www.erh.noaa.gov/box/hurricane-names.html) Very last line: "If over 21 named tropical cyclones occur in a year, the Greek alphabet will be used following the “W” name. " Tropical Storm Alpha would be next up in line. Hurricane Pi would be a fun one. What is the category of this storm? 3.14, of course. So we can only imagine what would happen if you go over the Greek alphabet mark…would named storms be named after Planets, Stars, numbers? I always thought it’d be fun to see Hurricane Jupiter (as long as it’s not that big) or Hurricane Betelgeuse. But that’s just me. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hurricanes-marching-down-the-list/259891/11 "2004-08-20T18:45:19Z")
> [@Cds456](#): > > So we can only imagine what would happen if you go over the Greek alphabet mark…would named storms be named after Planets, Stars, numbers? When Einstein ran out of Greek letters to use in the equations of relativity, he started using Sanskrit letters. Of course, Sanskrit has “cerebral” consonants, which made them perfect for his use. 🙂