Why do hurricanes and cyclones have female names?
10 Answers
Because the other half of them have male names.
There is a predetermined list of storm names per region. The names go alphabetically, and alternate between male and female names. Thus exactly 50% of storms have female names.
If -- this is a big if -- more actual hurricanes recently have had female names, this is merely coincidence.
The list rotates and is recycled every six years. For example, the 2012 list will be re-used in 2018.
Will we see another Hurricane Sandy then? No, probably not. When a storm gains too much significance, the name is retired. This is why Katrina doesn't appear on the list. Tropical Cyclone Naming History and Retired Names
See Tropical Cyclone Names:
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There is a predetermined list of storm names per region. The names go alphabetically, and alternate between male and female names. Thus exactly 50% of storms have female names.
If -- this is a big if -- more actual hurricanes recently have had female names, this is merely coincidence.
The list rotates and is recycled every six years. For example, the 2012 list will be re-used in 2018.
Will we see another Hurricane Sandy then? No, probably not. When a storm gains too much significance, the name is retired. This is why Katrina doesn't appear on the list. Tropical Cyclone Naming History and Retired Names
See Tropical Cyclone Names:
Lists of names for hurricanes alternate between male and female names.
On this year's list of names for the eastern north Pacific, Patricia was preceded by Olaf (which turned to the north, far east of Hawaii, but is still a big red blob on the satellites) and presuming there's another hurricane in the region, will be followed by Rick.
The Tropical Cyclone Names page at the National Hurricane Center lists the names for each area of ocean near the US likely to have hurricanes, for the current year and a few years into the future. For a more global view, you can check out the World Meteorological Organization's Tropical Cyclone Programme page.
Of course, if Patricia does huge amounts of damage, the name will be retired forever.
On this year's list of names for the eastern north Pacific, Patricia was preceded by Olaf (which turned to the north, far east of Hawaii, but is still a big red blob on the satellites) and presuming there's another hurricane in the region, will be followed by Rick.
The Tropical Cyclone Names page at the National Hurricane Center lists the names for each area of ocean near the US likely to have hurricanes, for the current year and a few years into the future. For a more global view, you can check out the World Meteorological Organization's Tropical Cyclone Programme page.
Of course, if Patricia does huge amounts of damage, the name will be retired forever.
There is a list of pre-determined names that are used in a 6-year rotation. When a particularly bad storm uses a name (like Sandy) that name will be retired and a new one added to the lists. Katrina is no longer on the list, for example.
Tropical Cyclone Names
As I look through the list, I don't see that the names are particularly attractive. "Humberto", for example? They are certainly not unattractive though.
Perhaps they are chosen to be easy to pronounce.
Tropical Cyclone Names
As I look through the list, I don't see that the names are particularly attractive. "Humberto", for example? They are certainly not unattractive though.
Perhaps they are chosen to be easy to pronounce.
I am answering this assuming that you are already aware of the mechanism for naming cyclones or hurricanes. During the early 20th century, since hurricanes were deadly and notorious, they were usually named after politicians. As there were objections, during the Second World War, the Army and Navy meteorologists started naming tropical cyclones after their girlfriends and wives. Even this led to severe criticism. Since 1953, US started using female names. The practice came to an end in 1979 when the US Natural Weather Service and the World Meteorological Organisation developed a systematic way of naming cyclones in the beginning of the year, alternating male and female names, arranged in an alphabetical order.
Since there was no procedure for the countries in the Indian Ocean region, since 2003 an international body, Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre (RSMC) located within the Indian Meteorological Department in Delhi started naming the cyclones that hit India, Pakistan, Oman, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand in the North Indian Ocean region. India uses names after abstract bodies, like “ Agni”, “Vayu” and “Baaz” etc. But some countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka give more female names than male and it is entirely the choice of the meteorologists . The name of the previous cyclone i.e., Hudhud was given by Oman. Hudhud is a bird (Hoopoe). The latest Cyclone Nilofar is named by Pakistan. Nilofar is a female name. Here is the complete list.
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Since there was no procedure for the countries in the Indian Ocean region, since 2003 an international body, Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre (RSMC) located within the Indian Meteorological Department in Delhi started naming the cyclones that hit India, Pakistan, Oman, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand in the North Indian Ocean region. India uses names after abstract bodies, like “ Agni”, “Vayu” and “Baaz” etc. But some countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka give more female names than male and it is entirely the choice of the meteorologists . The name of the previous cyclone i.e., Hudhud was given by Oman. Hudhud is a bird (Hoopoe). The latest Cyclone Nilofar is named by Pakistan. Nilofar is a female name. Here is the complete list.
