Dear tom,
Who names hurricanes and how do they choose the names?
Jennifer Azeez, Chicago
Dear Jennifer,
Hurricanes have been given short women’s names since 1953 in order to avoid communications errors and distinguish separate storms. In the early days, names were often female friends or relatives of the hurricane forecasters, beginning each year with an “A” storm and continuing alphabetically. In 1979, men’s and women’s names were alternated, and soon thereafter, the World Meteorological Organization took over the naming process, adding an international influence on the names. Six lists of names are rotated annually, so the storms from 2004 will be repeated in 2010. Each list contains 21 names (Q,U,X,Y,Z are not used) If a storm is especially vicious, the name is retired permanently. There may be several retirees this season.
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Tom Skilling is chief meteorologist at WGN-TV. His forecasts can be seen Monday through Friday on WGN-TV News at noon and 9 p.m.
Write to: ASK TOM WHY, 2501 Bradley Pl., Chicago, IL 60618 or asktomwhy@wgntv.com (Mail volume precludes personal response.)
