If tropical cyclones like ‘Hurricane Eta’ had you scratching your head last year thinking, “This is Greek to me,” you weren’t alone.
The World Meteorological Organization’s Hurricane Committee has decided to no longer use the Greek alphabet to name tropical cyclones in extremely active years like 2020 when the standard list of A-Z is exhausted.
Instead, there will be a list of supplemental A-Z names that will be used, in order, if the standard list is exhausted in a particular season.
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The decision was made because the Greek names create “a distraction from the communication of hazard and storm warnings and is potentially confusing,” a WMO spokesman said.
The names for the Atlantic Basin will be:
Adria
Braylen
Caridad
Deshawn
Emery
Foster
Gemma
Heath
Isla
Jacobus
Kenzie
Lucio
Makayla
Nolan
Orlanda
Pax
Ronin
Sophie
Tayshaun
Viviana
Will
Like the standard list, there are no Q,U,X,Y,Z names for the supplemental list in the Atlantic.
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The names for the Pacific Basin will be:
Aidan
Bruna
Carmelo
Daniella
Esteban
Flor
Gerardo
Hedda
Izzy
Jacinta
Kenito
Luna
Marina
Nancy
Ovidio
Pia
Rey
Skylar
Teo
Violeta
Wilfredo
Xinia
Yariel
Zoe
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“Names on the alternate list could be retired and replaced, when required, as is done with the standard list,” the WMO said.
The WMO’s Hurricane Committee has also retired the names Dorian, Laura, Eta and Iota from the six-year rotating list of Atlantic tropical cyclone names “because of the death and destruction they caused.”
See the 7-day forecast below:
Cox Media Group
