# What if we run out of hurricane names? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 20, 2005, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469 "2005-09-20T01:33:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DaveRaver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daveraver/32/1078_2.png) [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/1 "2005-09-20T01:33:53Z")
We reached an “R”-named hurricane early in the season, and the season doesn’t end until November 30th. That means we only have 3 more names scheduled for the season, (s, t and v… they skip u, x, y and z) and we are likely to surpass that. So what will they use for storm names? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/2 "2005-09-20T01:35:04Z")
They will start over with “A”. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/3 "2005-09-20T01:36:34Z")
Alpha Beta Gamma Delta and so forth ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/4 "2005-09-20T01:45:37Z")
They don’t skip W, so there’s four more. [Here’s](http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames.shtml) a list of names through 2010. They retire/replace names if they cause extensive damage. Basically, a country can request the World Meteorlogical Organization (WMO, they’re the ones who use weather modification to bring about the New World Order----KIDDING!!!) [Here’s what they do](http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/general/lib/reason.html) when they run out of names. They use the greek alphabet in the Atlantic and East Pacific. So we might see an Alpha or a Beta this year. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/5 "2005-09-20T01:47:52Z")
Ah, I see **Bricker** already nailed the greek thing. Oh, and I meant to type a country can request the World Meteorlogical Organization _retire a name._ ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/6 "2005-09-20T01:53:26Z")
I’m guessing Katrina will get retired. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/7 "2005-09-20T02:33:40Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > I’m guessing Katrina will get retired. But will she receive her social security checks? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/8 "2005-09-20T02:47:33Z")
It doesn’t take much to get a name retired. Basically if the hurricane causes any substantial damage that causes insurance companies to pay out anything, then the name gets retired. It makes it easier to sort out claims. There was one Hurricane Bob and it got retired and it barely made it to hurricane status, but it did a fair amount of damage to coastal areas of the Northeast as a tropical storm. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/9 "2005-09-20T02:53:30Z")
Huh. I always figured they’d use a double name system. Making Hurricane Ella-Mae cause to flee to the Himalayas. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/10 "2005-09-20T03:16:57Z")
Why do they skip U, X, Y, & Z? ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/11 "2005-09-20T03:44:36Z")
They make the lists for (IIRC) ten years at a time. _You_ try coming up with ten names that begin with X. ---
**Author:** ![JaneyDoll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@JaneyDoll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JaneyDoll)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/12 "2005-09-20T03:49:33Z")
Allison was retired after flooding Houston and it was only a Tropical Storm. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/13 "2005-09-20T04:53:28Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > I’m guessing Katrina will get retired. From An Arky’s link above > [@](#): > > The only time that there is a change in the list is if a storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for reasons of sensitivity. If that occurs, then at an annual meeting by the WMO committee (called primarily to discuss many other issues) the offending name is stricken from the list and another name is selected to replace it. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/14 "2005-09-20T11:22:16Z")
Q, U, X, Y, and Z and skipped because there aren’t too many names that begin with those letters. (Lessee: Quentin and Quincy are all I can think of for Q. Ursula is the only name I can think of for U, and Xavier is the only X. I can’t think of any common names beginning with Y, and Z is pretty much restricted to Zachary and Zebediah (sp?) and varients like Zack and Zeb.) ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/15 "2005-09-20T11:29:11Z")
BTW, when did the practice of naming hurricanes start, anyway? The story I heard was that meteorologists starting naming hurricanes after their wives and girlfriends as an in-joke. Eventually, a standard list of names was developed, although it was years before they started adding male names to the list. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/16 "2005-09-20T12:28:05Z")
We should lobby the appropriate body to put our Doper mods and personalities on the list. I love the idea of Hurricanes named wolf meister, Polycarp, Shagnasty, Bricker, bibliophage, QED, samclem, Eve, xash, Twickter, DrMatrix, Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor, Cecil, Cal Meacham, Gaudere, AmazonFloozyGodess, MEBuckner, SamStone, tomndebb, C K Dexter Haven, Ukulele Ike, Czarcasm. TVeblen, Cajun Man, Skip Magic, Lynn Bodoni, Giraffe. Tuba Diva is at the very top of my list, but I haven’t hear her rattling any cages recently. I hope she’s still with us. Feel free to add names to taste (or in bad taste, if you like). ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/17 "2005-09-20T12:30:41Z")
Damn! That’s Twick **s** ter. ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/18 "2005-09-20T13:29:06Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > BTW, when did the practice of naming hurricanes start, anyway? The story I heard was that meteorologists starting naming hurricanes after their wives and girlfriends as an in-joke. Eventually, a standard list of names was developed, although it was years before they started adding male names to the list. > [@](#): > > Subject: B1) Why are tropical cyclones named? > > Tropical cyclones are named to provide ease of communication between forecasters and the general public regarding forecasts, watches, and warnings. Since the storms can often last a week or longer and that more than one can be occurring in the same basin at the same time, names can reduce the confusion about what storm is being described. According to Dunn and Miller (1960), the first use of a proper name for a tropical cyclone was by an Australian forecaster early in the 20th century. He gave tropical cyclone names “after political figures whom he disliked. By properly naming a hurricane, the weatherman could publicly describe a politician (who perhaps was not too generous with weather-bureau appropriations) as ‘causing great distress’ or ‘wandering aimlessly about the Pacific.’” (Perhaps this should be brought back into use 😉 > > During World War II, tropical cyclones were informally given women’s names by US Army Air Corp and Navy meteorologists (after their girlfriends or wives) who were monitoring and forecasting tropical cyclones over the Pacific. From 1950 to 1952, tropical cyclones of the North Atlantic Ocean were identified by the phonetic alphabet (Able-Baker-Charlie-etc.), but in 1953 the US Weather Bureau switched to women’s names. In 1979, the WMO and the US National Weather Service (NWS) switched to a list of names that also included men’s names. [NHC FAQ](http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/B1.html) ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/19 "2005-09-20T15:00:35Z")
> [@GilaB](#): > > They make the lists for (IIRC) ten years at a time. _You_ try coming up with ten names that begin with X. Actually, the names run on a six year cycle. Any unretired names from this year will be used again in 2011. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Teter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Teter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teter)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469/20 "2005-09-20T15:17:59Z")
[http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20050919/sc\_space/hurricanecentermayrunoutofnames](http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20050919/sc_space/hurricanecentermayrunoutofnames) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-we-run-out-of-hurricane-names/322469.md?page=2)