How do they choose the names for hurricanes?
At one time, hurricanes were named by the year then at some point, and not all that long ago – perhaps 60 or 80 years ago – they were given female names once they became a tropical storm or depression. It wasn’t until the late 70’s early 80’s I think male names were thrown into the mix. They start out with a slate of names in alphabetical order for 4 years that they recycle over a period of perhaps 10 years, removing any named storms that become infamous, such as Camille, Donna etc. Such hurricanes that become category 5, like Camille – their names are retired. Hurricanes are called ‘typhoons’ in other sections of the world; infact, I was wondering why Nancy is never on the list; so I looked it up; Nancy was a category 5 for several days off the coast of Japan and that area; There were two other major hurricanes that were seen from space while Nancy was moving about… and yes, Fay was the last named storm on the Atlantic side.
