What's in a Name?

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

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

Each name on the list starts with a different letter. For example, the name of the very first hurricane of the season starts with 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 the possibility of just 21 names. If, as in 2005, more than 21 storms occur, letters from the Greek alphabet are assigned.

When a particularly destructive hurricane hits, the name often is retired and never used again. Since 1954, 67 names have been retired, typically at the request of affected countries. That country 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, and Wilma were retired by the WMO.