List of retired Atlantic hurricane names

This is a list of retired Atlantic hurricane names. Hurricane names are retired by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in a meeting in March, April, or May of each year. Those hurricanes that have their names retired tend to be exceptionally destructive storms that often become household names in the regions they affected. Since the naming of storms using human names began in 1953, an average of one storm name has been retired for each season, though many seasons (most recently 2006) have had no storm names retired, and after the 2005 season, five names were retired.

Storm names are retired following a request made at the March, April, or May WMO meeting by one or more of the countries affected by a hurricane. While no request for retirement has ever been turned down, some storms such as Hurricane Gordon caused a great deal of death and destruction but nonetheless were not retired as the main country affected (Haiti) did not request retirement.

General information

Theoretically, a hurricane or tropical storm of any strength can have its name retired; retirement is based entirely on the level of damage caused by a storm. However, until 1972, no Category 1 hurricane had its name retired, and no named tropical storm had its name retired until 2001. This is at least partially due to the fact that weaker storms tend to cause less damage, and the few weak storms that have had their names retired caused most of their destruction through heavy rainfall rather than winds.

Since 1953, 70 storms have had their names retired. Of these, two (Carol and Edna) were reused after the storm for which they were retired but were later retroactively retired, and two others (Hilda and Janet) were included on later lists of storm names but were not reused before being retroactively retired. Historical records are unclear on the status of Gracie from the 1959 season. The official NHC site does not report Gracie as a retired name, [ [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/retirednames.shtml Retired Hurricane Names Since 1954 ] ] but it is widely referred to as retired, including by other official sources. [ [http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/B3.html Faq : Hurricanes, Typhoons, And Tropical Cyclones ] ]

If all the names on a season's normal list are used up, storms are then named after the letters of the Greek alphabet (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, etc.) Unlike the normal names, these cannot be retired. If a storm with a Greek name manages to reach the strength and have the impact that would otherwise lead to retirement, the Greek letter would be listed among the retired names with a footnote stating that the name would still be in use for future storms.

Since 1953, the following seasons have had no names retired from that season: 1953, 1956, 1958, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1997 and 2006.

Lists of retired names

Listed by intensity

This lists all retired hurricanes by their peak intensity, which is determined by measurements of the minimum central pressure. to rank hurricanes according to their strongest 1-minute sustained winds. While most hurricanes do not make landfall at their peak intensity, they are often referred to by their strongest Saffir-Simpson Category rather than by their landfall Category.

Of the storms in the Atlantic whose names have been retired, one peaked as a tropical storm, five peaked as Category 1 hurricanes, four peaked as Category 2 hurricanes, twelve peaked as Category 3 hurricanes, twenty-eight peaked as Category 4 hurricanes and twenty peaked as Category 5 hurricanes. Many storms of high intensities have not had their names retired because they did not make landfall (such as Hurricane Karl), because they made landfall in an area where they could do very little damage (such as Hurricane Bret), because they weakened dramatically before making landfall (such as Hurricane Ethel), or because no request for retirement was made (such as Hurricane Emily). However, since the introduction of name retirement, only four Category 5 hurricanes have not had their names retired.

Of the storms listed below, one, Hurricane Cesar, reached its peak strength after crossing into the Pacific Ocean and being renamed Hurricane Douglas. As only the name Cesar was from the Atlantic naming lists and only Cesar was retired, its peak strength as Cesar is listed. Tropical Storm Allison remains the only sub-Hurricane strength tropical cyclone to have its name retired. This is based on the devastating flood and storm surge damage done to the Houston, Texas area when Allison hit in June, 2001. No other Tropical Storm's name (that did not go on to become a hurricane) has ever been retired.

Landfalls

[
Hurricane Charley making landfall on August 13, 2004 at its peak intensity. Hurricane Charley was the first Category 4 hurricane to make landfall in the United States in 12 years.] Landfall of a tropical cyclone is defined as the moving of the center of the eye over land. Damages from a tropical cyclone are usually greatest where it makes landfall.

In the below list, the retired hurricanes are listed in chronological order with their landfall locations listed under columns designating their strength on the Saffir-Simpson Scale at the time of landfall. Within a cell, landfalls are listed in chronological order. Two retired hurricanes, Hurricane Klaus and Hurricane Fabian, never made landfall anywhere at any intensity. They are omitted from this list. Some retired systems also made landfall as tropical depressions, but depressions were not reliably tracked until the 1990s and so their landfalls are omitted as well.

See also

* List of Atlantic hurricanes
* List of retired tropical cyclone names
** List of retired Pacific hurricane names
** List of retired Pacific typhoon names
*
* List of tropical cyclones

References

External links

* [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastall.shtml National Hurricane Center's Post-Season Reports]
* [http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/index.html Unisys Weather archives for the Atlantic]
* [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/Deadliest_Costliest.shtml NHC's list of US-striking hurricanes]
* [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastdeadly.shtml NHC's list of deadliest hurricanes]
* [http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/retirednames.shtml NHC's list of retired hurricanes]