2020 Hurricane Names For The Season

Have you ever wondered why tropical storms and hurricanes are given names? It’s not to make these disastrous storms seem friendlier, that’s for sure. Storms are given names to make them easier to remember. But who picks the names? Read on to find out!

List of 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Names:

1. Arthur
2. Bertha
3. Cristobal
4. Dolly
5. Edouard
6. Fay
7. Gonzalo
8. Hanna
9. Isaias
10. Josephine
11. Kyle
12. Laura
13. Marco
14. Nana
15. Omar
16. Paulette
17. Rene
18. Sally
19. Teddy
20. Vicky
21. Wilfred

Greek Alphabet—first 8 letters

1. alpha
2. beta
3. gamma
4. delta
5. epsilon
6. zeta
7. eta
8. theta

How Are Storms Named?

Prior to the 1950s, meteorologists kept track of hurricanes and tropical storms by the year and the storms’ order for that year. So, for instance, the fifth tropical storm of 1938 was referred to as just that — the “fifth tropical storm of 1938” or “Storm 5.”

Tropical storms and hurricanes that did a lot of damage received unofficial names—like the 1926 Great Miami Hurricane, which did so much damage that the Miami government implemented the first known building code in the United States.

During the 1950s, meteorologists realized that it was difficult to keep track of unnamed storms—particularly if there was more than one storm happening at any given time. By 1953, meteorologists around the United States were using names for tropical storms and cyclones.

In those days, the storm names were all female. Both male and female names were used for Northern Pacific storms in 1978, and by 1979, male and female names were being used for Atlantic storms, too.

The World Meteorological Organization is responsible for developing the names for both Northern Pacific and Atlantic storms. They use six lists of names for Atlantic Ocean and Eastern North Pacific storms. These lists rotate, one each year.

That means every six years, the names cycle back around and get reused (which happened in 2019). If a hurricane does tremendous damage, such as Katrina, Sandy, or Harvey, the name is retired and replaced by a different name beginning with the same letter (After 2019, Dorian will most likely be added to the list of retired names).

The names alternate between male and female names, listed alphabetically and in chronological order starting with A and omitting Q and U, X, Y, and Z.  If more than 21 names are required during a season, the Greek alphabet is used.

Tropical Storms vs. Hurricanes

The National Hurricane Center explains that names are only given to tropical storms that have sustained wind speeds higher than 39 mph. These names will stay with the storm as it reaches hurricane strength (maximum sustained winds of 74 mph or higher). This means Tropical Storm Debby, for example, will become Hurricane Debby if it reaches maturity.

The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins June 1st, peaks September 10th, and ends November 30th, although hurricanes can form at any time.

List of 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Names:

These names were recycled from the 2013 season. 

1. Andrea
2. Barry
3. Chantal
4. Dorian
5. Erin
6. Fernand
7. Gabrielle
8. Humberto
9. Imelda
10. Jerry
11. Karen
12. Lorenzo
13. Melissa
14. Nestor
15. Olga
16. Pablo
17. Rebekah
18. Sebastien 
19. Tanya
20. Van
21. Wendy

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