Dear Tom,
You’ve told us that if there is a tropical cyclone after Wilma it will be called Alpha. Should Alpha become a devastating storm would its named be retired?
Richard Beil Crete, Ill.
Dear Richard,
We posed your question to Dr. Richard Knabb of the National Hurricane Center and his answer was a resounding yes. Dr. Knabb stated that any storm that produces a large amount of damage or loss of life can have its name retired by agreement of the World Meteorological Organization.
Since Atlantic Basin hurricanes were first named in 1953, the 21-name list has never been exhausted, but this year with Wilma already on the books, the odds of a storm Alpha become a strong probability. Should the name Alpha ever be retired and another hurricane season runs the alphabet, the 22nd storm would then be named Beta.
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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.)
WGN-TV meteorologists Steve Kahn, Richard Koeneman and Paul Dailey plus weather producer Bill Snyder contribute to this page.
