The list of this year's tropical storm and hurricane names hasbeen announced for the 2006 season, which begins next month andruns through November. But how exactly are these names chosen?

Tropical storm and hurricane names are picked from a listselected by the World Meteorological Organization, an agency thatis a part of the United Nations and studies meteorology (weatherand climate), operational hydrology, and geophysical sciences. TheAtlantic is assigned six lists of names with alternating gender,with one list used each year until the sixth year, at which pointthe first list begins again.

Each name on the list starts with a different letter. Forexample, the name of the very first hurricane of the season startswith the letter A, the next starts with the letter B, and so on.The letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z, however, are excluded, leaving thepossibility of just 21 names. If, as in 2005, more than 21 stormsoccur, letters from the Greek alphabet are assigned.

When a particularly destructive hurricane hits, the name oftenis retired and never used again. Since 1954, 67 names have beenretired, typically at the request of affected countries. Thatcountry then decides on a replacement name of the same gender and,if possible, the same ethnicity as the name being retired.Recently, the hurricane names Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan, andWilma were retired by the WMO.