Today's tropics, and retiring Emily's name

The tropics remain relatively quiet. Franklin, who keeps saying "I'm not dead yet!", continues to stagger along as a bare minimal tropical storm. The two tropical waves I pointed out yesterday are still looking interesting, particularly the one closer to the Leeward Islands. This wave has a very broad circulation now, although it still lacks much in the way of convection. I'll talk more about these waves if they start to show more organization.

I'd also like to mention that the comments to this blog have gotten too excessive to be of value for the majority of our readers. I encourage those of you who are trying to set a record for a high number of posts to resist that urge. It is difficult for people to find some useful URL or question that needs answering, due to the large number of posts. However, I am pleased with the general tone of all the posts; flame wars have not been a problem. Thanks. On to today's topic--

Will Emily's name get retired?
Hurricanes began getting names in 1950, when the U.S. Weather Bureau began using the phonetic alphabet (Able-Baker-Charlie). In 1953, womens names were substituted, and in 1979, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the U.S. National Weather Service switched to a list of names that also included men's names. The current list of names recycles every six years, unless a hurricane gets its name retired. Any nation impacted by a severe hurricane can lobby the WMO to have the name of that hurricane retired. From 1950 - 2004, 62 hurricanes have had their names retired. The list includes one tropical storm, Allison of 2001, that caused billions in damage from its heavy rains. Only one hurricane has had its name retired in the Eastern Pacific--Hurricane Kenna of 2002, which hit Mexico.

The storm with the most appearances so far is Arlene, which has appeared nine times: 1959, 1963, 1967, 1971, 1981, 1987, 1993, 1999, 2005, and will come again in 2011. It took Emily five tries to have her name retired, and I'm sure the WMO will retire both Emily and Dennis of 2005. These will be the only July hurricanes to ever have their name retired. One June storm, Audrey of 1957, had her name retired.



Below is a list of Atlantic Ocean retired names, the years the hurricanes occurred, and the areas they affected. Keep in mind that a large number of destructive storms occurred before naming began in 1950, and are not included on this list. I'll add a link for this list to the tropical page.

Jeff Masters

Atlantic Storms Retired Into Hurricane History

Emily (2005): Grenada, Mexico
Dennis (2005): Cuba, Florida
Jeanne (2004): Florida
Ivan (2004): Grenada, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Alabama, Florida
Frances (2004): Florida
Charley (2004): Cuba, Florida
Juan (2003): Nova Scotia
Isabel (2003): North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland
Fabian (2003): Bermuda
Lili (2002): Cuba, Louisiana
Isidore (2002): Cuba, Mexico, Louisiana
Michelle (2001): Cuba, Bahamas
Iris (2001): Belize
Allison (2001): Texas
Keith (2000): Belize, Mexico
Lenny (1999): Virgin Islands, St. Maartin/St. Martin, Anguilla
Floyd (1999): North Carolina
Mitch (1998): Central America, Nicaragua, Honduras
Georges (1998): Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, Hispanolia, Cuba, Mississippi
Hortense (1996): Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic
Fran (1996): North Carolina
Cesar (1996): Nicaragua
Roxanne (1995): Mexico
Opal (1995): Florida
Marilyn (1995): Virgin Islands, Leeward Islands
Luis (1995): Leeward Islands
Andrew (1992): Bahamas, South Florida, Louisiana
Bob (1991): North Carolina, Northeast U.S.
Klaus (1990): Martinique
Diana (1990): Mexico
Hugo (1989): Antilles, South Carolina
Joan (1988): Curacao, Venezuela, Colombia, Nicaragua (Crossed into the Pacific)
Gilbert (1988): Lesser Antilles, Jamaica, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
Gloria (1985): North Carolina, Northeast U.S.
Elena (1985): Mississippi, Alabama, Western Florida
Alicia (1983): North Texas
Allen (1980): Antilles, Mexico, South Texas
Frederic (1979): Alabama and Mississippi
David (1979): Lesser Antilles, Hispa�ola, Florida and Eastern U.S.
Anita (1977): Mexico
Eloise (1975): Antilles, Northwest Florida, Alabama
Fifi (1974): Honduras, Guatemala
Agnes (1972): Florida, Northeast U.S.
Celia (1970): South Texas
Camille (1969): Mississipi
Beulah (1967): Antilles, Mexico, South Texas
Inez (1966): Lesser Antilles, Hispanola, Cuba, Florida Keys, Mexico
Betsy (1965): Bahamas, Southeast Florida, Southeast Louisiana
Dora (1964): Northeast Florida
Cleo (1964): Lesser Antilles, Haiti, Cuba, Southeast Florida
Hilda (1964): Louisiana
Flora (1963): Haiti, Cuba
Hattie (1961): Belize, Guatemala
Carla (1961): Texas
Donna (1960): Bahamas, Florida and Eastern U.S.
Gracie (1959): Bahamas, South Carolina
Audrey (1957): Louisiana, North Texas
Janet (1955): Lesser Antilles, Belize, Mexico
Ione (1955): North Carolina
Diane (1955): Mid-Atlantic U.S, Northeast U.S.
Connie (1955): North Carolina
Hazel (1954): Antilles, North and South Carolina
Edna (1954): Massachusetts
Carol (1954): Northeast U.S.