MIAMI – As Hurricane Sally gained strength across the Gulf Coast this week and tropical storms Teddy and Vicky were named as the 19th and 20th hurricanes of the season in the Atlantic, moving closer to the end of each alphabet.
The Atlantic hurricane season has spread the storm at such a rapid rate this year that Wilfred-21 is left with a list of direct names that meteorologists use for each season.
Forecasters say they could end the current list, although this is the height of the season, which began on June 1 and will end on November 30. This week, there were Five named hurricanes At the same time in the Atlantic, an event that has not occurred since 1971, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (Tropical Depression melted on Monday.)
“We’re now on a hurricane named 20 – we’re barely halfway through the season – that’s a lot,” said Dennis Feltgen, a spokesman and meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. “We still have another month of the season left.”
Once predictors have stormed past Wilfred’s past, they will have to rotate names based on the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet, starting with alpha, beta, gamma and delta.
“We’ve only done it once, and it was 2005,” Mr. Feltgen said. That year meteorologists used six Greek names for hurricane season tuma, which included 28 hurricanes.
‘One of the most active on record’
Mr Feltage described the 2020 hurricane season as “hyperactive” compared to the average hurricane season, which typically produces 12 named hurricanes, three of which develop into major hurricanes.
In May, the NOAA forecast 10 hurricanes with 19 more hurricanes than usual in the Atlantic. And as many as six of them are expected to develop into Category 3, or hurricanes.
The season reached a record high with nine hurricanes by July, according to NOAA, the highest ever recorded since the beginning of the satellite era in 1966. Before the official start of the season, Arthur, a hurricane named First, formed off the coast of Florida in May, followed by Bertha, who landed near Charleston, SC, later that month.
Last month, government scientists updated their views.
“It is becoming one of the most active in the world,” said Luis Euselini, director of the National Weather Service.
Gary Bell, who forecasts major hurricane seasons with the NOAA Climate Forecast Center, said last month that up to 25 named storms could occur before the end of the season. And hurricanes can have seven to 11 hurricanes, with three to six major hurricanes with winds of miles miles per hour or more.
In recent decades, scientists have seen an increase in hurricane activity in the North Atlantic, which, by one measure, combines intensity with characteristics such as storm duration and frequency. Climate scientists say there are links between global warming and the minimum intensity of hurricanes. As the sea temperature rises, the hurricanes become stronger as the hot water fuels them.
What’s in a Hurricane Name?
Cyclones and hurricanes Name each hurricane “people can easily understand and remember”, named after the World Meat or Rheological Organization, an international group that now maintains and assigns a list of names.
Hurricane Sally
“Many agree that adding names to hurricanes makes it easier for the media to report tropical cyclones, increases interest in warnings and increases community preparedness,” the WMO said.
The organization said the hurricane was “not named after any particular person, or there was no choice in alphabetical order.” The group added that the selected names are “familiar to people in every field”.
The lists are recycled every six years in which male and female names change with each other alphabetically. For example, the 2019 list will be used again in 2025.
The practice of naming Atlantic tropical storms dates back to at least 1953, when the National Hurricane Center began compiling a list of names in the United States. With the addition of male names to the original list, only female names were featured until 1979.
Why don’t you see a hurricane named Quinn, Uma or Zack.
Although there are 26 letters in the English alphabet, the WMO does not use names beginning with the letters Q, U, X, Y or Z because “there are not enough of them,” said John Morales, chief meteorologist at WTVJ. -TV, NBC stations in Miami and Fort Lauderdale.
Mr Feltgen said “you need to have enough names,” noting that there must be at least six names per letter as well as backup names, and names to include male and female options.
Why do some names retire?
Hurricane names usually retire when hurricanes make history for causing destruction and death; The reuse of this name would be insensitive to those who were affected by the storm. More than 80 names have retired from the Atlantic list, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Hurricane Andrew, for example, a Category 5 hurricane that struck South Miami-Dade in 1992, was blamed for 61 deaths and about 27 billion dollars in damage at the time, according to the NOAA.
And in 2005, Hurricane Katrina swept New Orleans, killing more than 1,500 people. That hurricane season also produced Dennis, Rita, Stan and Wilma – names given by meteorologists. According to the WMO, more storm names retired than in the 2005 season
In 2018, the International Hurricane Committee announced that it was retiring four hurricanes. Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate With its roster Atlantic Atlantic tropical cyclone names, as their 2017 season has a devastating toll. They were replaced by Harold, Idalia, Margot and Nigel, who will appear in the 2023 list.
