How Hurricanes Are<br />Named: Explained Every year, the National Hurricane Center tracks<br />various tropical storms in the Pacific and <br />Atlantic oceans. Once these storms reach 39 mph, <br />they are assigned a name in order to <br />streamline messaging and communications. These names are short and distinctive in order<br />to ensure the storms are easily identifiable and<br />not confused with any other active storms. Originally, storms only received alphabetized<br />female names. In 1978, it was decided<br />to include male names as well. Jim Elsner, Florida State<br />University Professor, to ‘TIME’ The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is<br />currently responsible for naming hurricanes. For the North Atlantic ocean, The WMO has 6 lists of<br />21 male and female names, which are used in rotation. The names are then recycled every six<br />years, meaning names used in 2019, like<br />Andrea and Barry, will be used again in 2025. If a hurricane is particularly devastating, such as Katrina, Irma and Florence, its name is retired and replaced.
