Fun Fact Friday

Meteorologists in the United States officially started naming tropical storms and hurricanes in the 1950s to make it easier to keep track in forecasts and news reports. Since then, naming tropical cyclones has become a worldwide effort coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Nations agency responsible for maintaining meteorological standards.

Today, the Atlantic Ocean and the eastern Pacific Ocean each receive a list of alternating masculine and feminine names that are reused every six years. If a storm is particularly destructive or deadly, the WMO will retire the name from official lists, so it’s never used again out of respect for the families of the storm’s victims and survivors. When a name is retired, another name starting with the same letter takes its place. More than 80 names have been retired from the Atlantic Ocean’s list of names since 1954. Earlier this year, it was announced that the names Florence and Michael are being retired as a result of the damage they caused during the 2018 hurricane season. They will be replaced with Francine and Milton when the list is reused in 2024.

Don’t forget to make plans to attend The Landings Association’s Annual Hurricane Town Hall on June 12 at 7 p.m. in Plantation’s Ballroom to learn about hurricane preparedness and to find out tips for preparing your family’s hurricane plan.

The above information on hurricane names is courtesy of mentalfloss.com/section/weather-watch.



This article was originally published by The Landings Association on their website.

Visit landings.org to read the original article.
https://landings.org/news/2019/06/05/fun-fact-friday