The ‘Extra’ Atlantic Hurricane Name List Will Likely Be Used Soon - But Not The Greek Alphabet

The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season is still in full swing. Even as this is being typed, I am marveling at the persistence and structure of Hurricane Sam in the Atlantic Ocean. A Tropical Storm Watch has been issued for Bermuda, but the latest forecast models reveal no threat to the U.S. or Canadian mainland. According to Colorado State University expert Phil Klotzbach, Hurricane Sam has now been a major hurricane (Category 3 or greater) for over 4.75 days. With October approaching, there is a significant portion of the hurricane season left. I am certain that the “extra” hurricane name list will be used, but it will look a bit different than previous years. Let me explain.

The National Hurricane Center is currently monitoring Tropical Storm Victor in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. As you see from the 2021 list below, there is only one name (Wanda) remaining. As a reminder, Atlantic storms are named using a list from an international committee under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The lists actually are reused every six years, which means the names in 2021 will appear again in 2027. It is my hunch that the name “Ida” will not be among them. The names of particularly destructive storms are retired.

In past years, if the Atlantic Basin surpassed twenty-one named storms, the Greek Alphabet was employed. This process was only used in 2005 and 2020. However, the active 2020 season highlighted several problems with the use of the Greek Alphabet including:

1. Confusion about Greek names. For example, many people incorrectly assumed Zeta was the last storm name even though Zeta is not the last letter in the Greek alphabet.
2. Imbalanced focus by the media on the novelty of reaching certain Greek letters rather than the hazards associated with the storms.
3. Compromised messaging because of the similarities in the sounds of letters like Eta, Theta, and Zeta.
4. Concerns about managing retired Greek letter names in different years and so forth.

According to NOAA’s website, “In the event that more than twenty-one named tropical cyclones occur in the Atlantic basin in a season, or more than twenty-four named tropical cyclones in the eastern North Pacific basin, any additional storms will take names from an alternate list of names approved by the WMO for each basin.” The names on the supplemental Atlantic Basin list are as follows:”

• Adria
• Braylen
• Caridad
• Deshawn
• Emery
• Foster
• Gemma
• Heath
• Isla
• Jacobus
• Kenzie
• Lucio
• Makayla
• Nolan
• Orlando
• Pax
• Ronin
• Sophie
• Tayshaun
• Viviana
• Will

My meteorological instincts (and climatology) tell me that we will see a few of these names before the season is over with so buckle up.