NOAA has released its list of Atlantic tropical and subtropical storm names for 2019 and they are:
- Andrea
- Barry
- Chantal
- Dorian
- Erin
- Fernand
- Gabrielle
- Humberto
- Imelda
- Jerry
- Karen
- Lorenzo
- Melissa
- Nestor
- Olga
- Pablo
- Rebekah
- Sebastien
- Tanya
- Van
- Wendy
Since 1953, Atlantic tropical storms had been named from lists originated by the National Hurricane Center. They are now maintained and updated through a strict procedure by an international committee of the World Meteorological Organization.
Tropical cyclone names are used in rotation and recycled every six years.
If a storm forms in the off-season, it will take the next name in the list based on the current calendar date. For example, if a tropical cyclone formed on December 28th, it would take the name from the previous season’s list of names. If a storm formed in February, it would be named from the subsequent season’s list of names.
In the event that more than 21 named tropical cyclones occur in the Atlantic basin in a season, additional storms will take names from the Greek alphabet.
Last month, the World Meteorological Organization’s Region IV Hurricane Committee, which includes NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, retired the names Florence and Michael from the six-year cycle.
Both storms wreaked havoc from Florida to Virginia last year, with Florence turning out to be one of the most deadly and destructive hurricanes to ever hit North Carolina.
Storm names are retired if they were so damaging or deadly that the future use of the name would be insensitive – otherwise, names are reused every six years.
The Atlantic basin hurricane season runs June 1 through Nov. 30. North Carolina is one of the leading states in the U.S. for hurricane damage.
- Related story: Florence and Michael retired as Atlantic hurricane names
