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Science
Meteorology Named
Events...
Who Gets to Name Hurricanes? In
2005, Hurricane Phillippe turned back to sea, but Rita's wind and waves turned
Galveston and Houston into ghost towns.
New
Orleans barely survived Katrina.
Remember
Camille, Andrew, Elena? What about Hortense? Naming
the Big Storms The
Atlantic
Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML)'s site explains that 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.'" During
World War II, US Army Air Corp and Navy meteorologists named Pacific storms after
their girlfriends or wives. You'll have to decide for yourself whether the women
were happy with having terrible cyclones named after them! From
1950 to 1952, tropical cyclones, including hurricanes in the North Atlantic Ocean,
were identified by the standard radio names: Able; Baker; Charlie;... etc., but
in 1953 the US Weather Bureau switched back to women's names. Then, in a politically
correct move in 1979, the WMO and the US National Weather Service (NWS) added
men's names. Choosing
names for cyclonic events, like hurricanes, that are potential international disasters
takes the work of an international group. Names for these storms are approved
by a committee of the World Meteorological
Organization. There are six
lists of hurricane names. The names are reused every six years unless a storm
creates enough havoc to have its name retired. [Retired
names] Why
name hurricanes at all?
Names just makes it easier to talk about
the storms and warn people about the dangerous ones. During peak hurricane season
in late summer, there may be several storms heading in the same direction at the
same time. If each one has a name, it makes talking about the storms easier and
less confusing. Since
the name list started in in 1950, the furthest they have gone down the list has
been in recording-breaking year of 2005, the first season to use "V"
and "W" names. In
fact, after using up all 21 names, forecasters resorted to using letters from
the Greek alphabet for the first time, dubbing the last storms of that year Alpha,
Beta, Gamma,
Delta, Epsilon and Zeta.
also
see related Features: Top
Ten Hurricane Tips
Getting Hurricane Ready |
Hurricane Recovery Tips
Related
Web Sites: Hurricane
Weather Center American
Red Cross Disaster Safety: Hurricanes
About
the Author
Katrina Cramer-Diaz is a working mom with a background in education
and plenty of experience in Christian parenting. She lives in Virginia with her
four children and Bear... the dog.
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