Tropical cyclone naming
Encyclopedia
Tropical cyclones have officially been named since 1945 and are named for a variety of reasons, which include to facilitate communications between forecasters and the public when forecasts, watches, and warnings are issued. Names also reduce confusion about what storm is being described, as more than one can occur in the same region at the same time. The official practice of naming tropical cyclones started in 1945 within the Western Pacific and was gradually extended out until 2004, when the India Meteorological Department started to name cyclonic storms within the North Indian ocean. Before the official practice of naming of tropical cyclones began, significant tropical cyclones were named after annoying politicians, mythological creatures, saints and place names. Names are drawn in order from predetermined lists (see Lists of tropical cyclone names) and are usually assigned to tropical cyclones with one, three or ten minute sustained windspeeds of more than 65 km/h (40 mph) depending on which area it originates. However, standards vary from basin to basin with some tropical depressions named in the Western Pacific, while within the Southern Hemisphere
tropical cyclones have to have a significant amount of gale force winds occurring around the center before they are named.
's 1941 novel, Storm
, gave impetus to the idea of naming tropical cyclones.
From 1950 the United States Weather Bureau
(USWB), began to assign names to tropical cyclones that were judged to have intensified into tropical storms. Storms were originally named in alphabetical order using the World War II version of the Phonetic Alphabet
. In 1953 a new set of 23 women's names were used, to avoid any confusion as a secondary phonetic alphabet had been developed. After the active but mild 1953 Atlantic hurricane season
, public reception to the idea seemed favorable, so the same list was adopted for the next year with only one change; Gilda for Gail. After storms like Carol
and Hazel
got a lot of publicity during the 1954 season
, forecasters developed a new set of names in time for the 1955 season
. However before this could happen, a tropical storm developed on January 2, 1955 and was named as Alice. The new set of names was developed and were used during 1955 beginning with Brenda and continued through the alphabet to Zelda. For each season before 1960, a new set of names was developed before in 1960 forecasters decided to begin rotating names in a regular sequence and thus four alphabetical lists were established to be repeated every four years. The sets followed the example of the western Pacific typhoon naming lists and excluded names beginning with the letters Q, U, X, Y and Z. These four lists were used until 1972 when National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA), replaced them with nine lists designed to be used annually from 1972. In 1977, NOAA decided to relinquish control over the name selection and allow a regional committee of the World Meteorological Organization
(WMO) to select the names. The WMO decided that the names would be used from 1979, with six new lists which contained male names and some Spanish and French names to reflect all the cultures and languages used within the Atlantic Ocean. Since 1979 the same six lists have been used, with names of significant tropical cyclones removed from the lists and replaced with new names. In 2002, subtropical cyclone
s started to be assigned names from the main list of names set up for that year. In 2005 as all the names preselected for the season were exhausted, the contingency plan of using the Greek alphabet
for names had to be used. Since then there have been a few attempts to get rid of the Greek names as they are seen to be inconsistent with the standard naming convention used for tropical cyclones and are generally unknown and confusing to the public. However none of the attempts have succeeded and thus the Greek alphabet will be used should the lists ever be used up again.
, it was decided to rotate the same lists every four years. In 1977, after protests by various women's rights groups, NOAA made the decision to relinquish control over the name selection by allowing a regional committee of the WMO to select new sets of names. The WMO selected six lists of names which contained male names and rotated every six years. They also decided that the new lists of hurricane name would start to be used in 1978 which was a year earlier than the Atlantic. Since 1978 the same lists of names have been used, with names of significant tropical cyclones removed from the lists and replaced with new names. As in the Atlantic basin, should the names preselected for the season be exhausted the contingency plan of using the Greek alphabet for names would be used. However unlike in the Atlantic basin the contingency plan has never had to be used, although in 1985 to avoid using the contingency plan, the letters X, Y, and Z were added to the lists. Since the contingency plan was used during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season
, there have been attempts to get rid of the Greek names as they are seen to be inconsistent with the standard naming convention used for tropical cyclones and are generally unknown and confusing to the public. However none of the attempts have succeeded and thus the Greek letters will still be used should the lists ever be exhausted.
, were drafted with the intent being to use the sets of names on an annual rotation basis. However as no tropical cyclones had formed in this region between 1979 and 1981, the original lists were scrapped and replaced with four sets of names. Also, the plan of how to allocate the names was changed to allow all the names to be used consecutively. The naming lists were used until 2007 the lists were revised in conjunction with the University of Hawaii
with one-third of the names being retired or replaced.
the US armed services combined to form the Joint Typhoon Warning Center
(JTWC) who took on responsibility for naming all tropical storms between the 100°E
and 180
. Initially the lists of names only consisted of female names before in April 1979, the naming lists were revised to include male names. In 1998 the WMO's/ESCAP typhoon committee, decided that the current naming lists were too English and decided that they would control the list of names with the names assigned to tropical storms by the Japan Meteorological Agency
instead of the JTWC.
In 1963 the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration
decided to start naming tropical depressions with the names of Filipino women which ended in "ng," when they formed or moved into their area of responsibility. They continued the practice of naming tropical depressions, until the 2001 season when they started to name tropical cyclones with male names and scrapped the requirement for them to end in "ng".
. As a result of this, the panel requested that each member country submit a list of 10 names to a rapporteur by the end of 2000. At the 2001 session, the rapporteur reported that of the eight countries involved, only India had refused to submit a list of names as it had some reservations, about assigning names to tropical cyclones. The panel then studied the names and felt that some of the names would not be appealing to the public or the media and thus requested that members submit new lists of names. In 2002, the rapporteur reported that there had been a poor response by member countries in resubmitting their lists of names, over the next year each country, bar India submitted a fresh list of names. By the 2004 session, India had still not submitted its names despite promising to do so, however the rapporteur presented the lists of names that would be used with a gap left for India's names. The rapporteur also recommended that the naming lists were used on an experimental basis during the season, starting in May or June 2004. The naming lists were then completed in May 2004, after India submitted their names, however the lists were not used until September 2004 when the first tropical cyclone was named Onil
by RSMC New Delhi
.
, the names have been selected a couple of seasons in advance by the WMO's tropical cyclone committee for the South West Indian Ocean. Until the WMO took over selecting the names, all off the names were female, since then, both men and women names have been used. Unlike other basins; RSMC La Reunion
does not name tropical cyclones as they intensify into tropical or subtropical storms instead they advise either the meteorological service of Mauritius or Madagascar, who then assigns a name.
and the Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited
.
, used to rename tropical storms when they moved from the Atlantic to the Eastern Pacific or vice versa. Also when a tropical cyclone moves from the Australian region into the South-West Indian Ocean, the Mauritius Meteorological Service will rename it. However when a tropical cyclone moves from the South-West Indian Ocean into the Australian region, it is not renamed. Prior to the 1984–85 season, tropical cyclones were renamed when they crossed 80°E
. After the Australian region was shortened for the start of the 1985–86 season, tropical cyclones were renamed when they crossed the 90°E
instead of 80°E.
, or if it passes from the area of responsibility of one forecaster to another.
Southern Hemisphere
The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...
tropical cyclones have to have a significant amount of gale force winds occurring around the center before they are named.
History of tropical cyclone naming
Before the official naming of tropical cyclones began in each basin, significant tropical cyclones were named after annoying politicians, mythological creatures, saints and place names, or were just simply numbered with a set of code letters before it.Atlantic
George R. StewartGeorge R. Stewart
George Rippey Stewart was an American toponymist, a novelist, and a professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley...
's 1941 novel, Storm
Storm (novel)
Storm is a novel written by George Rippey Stewart and published in 1941. The book became a best-seller and helped lead to the naming of tropical cyclones worldwide, even though the main character of the book was an extratropical cyclone.-Plot summary:...
, gave impetus to the idea of naming tropical cyclones.
From 1950 the United States Weather Bureau
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
(USWB), began to assign names to tropical cyclones that were judged to have intensified into tropical storms. Storms were originally named in alphabetical order using the World War II version of the Phonetic Alphabet
Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet
The Joint Army/Navy Phonetic Alphabet was a radio alphabet developed in 1941 and was used by all branches of the United States military until the promulgation of the ICAO spelling alphabet in 1956, which replaced it...
. In 1953 a new set of 23 women's names were used, to avoid any confusion as a secondary phonetic alphabet had been developed. After the active but mild 1953 Atlantic hurricane season
1953 Atlantic hurricane season
The 1953 Atlantic hurricane season was the first time an organized list of female names was used to name Atlantic storms. It officially began on June 15, and lasted until November 15, although activity occurred both before and after the season's limits...
, public reception to the idea seemed favorable, so the same list was adopted for the next year with only one change; Gilda for Gail. After storms like Carol
Hurricane Carol
Hurricane Carol was among the worst tropical cyclones to affect the New England region of the United States. It developed from a tropical wave near the Bahamas on August 25, 1954, and gradually strengthened as it moved northwestward. On August 27, Carol intensified to reach winds of , but weakened...
and Hazel
Hurricane Hazel
Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest and costliest hurricane of the 1954 Atlantic hurricane season. The storm killed as many as 1,000 people in Haiti before striking the United States near the border between North and South Carolina, as a Category 4 hurricane...
got a lot of publicity during the 1954 season
1954 Atlantic hurricane season
The 1954 Atlantic hurricane season caused over $750 million in damage, the most of any season at the time. The season officially began on June 15, and nine days later the first named storm developed. Hurricane Alice developed in the Gulf of Mexico and moved inland along the Rio Grande,...
, forecasters developed a new set of names in time for the 1955 season
1955 Atlantic hurricane season
The 1955 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on June 15, 1955, and lasted until November 15, 1955. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the Atlantic basin. The 1955 season was active, with twelve tropical storms forming.Three...
. However before this could happen, a tropical storm developed on January 2, 1955 and was named as Alice. The new set of names was developed and were used during 1955 beginning with Brenda and continued through the alphabet to Zelda. For each season before 1960, a new set of names was developed before in 1960 forecasters decided to begin rotating names in a regular sequence and thus four alphabetical lists were established to be repeated every four years. The sets followed the example of the western Pacific typhoon naming lists and excluded names beginning with the letters Q, U, X, Y and Z. These four lists were used until 1972 when National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , pronounced , like "noah", is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...
(NOAA), replaced them with nine lists designed to be used annually from 1972. In 1977, NOAA decided to relinquish control over the name selection and allow a regional committee of the World Meteorological Organization
World Meteorological Organization
The World Meteorological Organization is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 189 Member States and Territories. It originated from the International Meteorological Organization , which was founded in 1873...
(WMO) to select the names. The WMO decided that the names would be used from 1979, with six new lists which contained male names and some Spanish and French names to reflect all the cultures and languages used within the Atlantic Ocean. Since 1979 the same six lists have been used, with names of significant tropical cyclones removed from the lists and replaced with new names. In 2002, subtropical cyclone
Subtropical cyclone
A subtropical cyclone is a weather system that has some characteristics of a tropical and an extratropical cyclone. As early as the 1950s, meteorologists were unclear whether they should be characterized as tropical or extratropical cyclones. They were officially recognized by the National...
s started to be assigned names from the main list of names set up for that year. In 2005 as all the names preselected for the season were exhausted, the contingency plan of using the Greek alphabet
Greek alphabet
The Greek alphabet is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since at least 730 BC . The alphabet in its classical and modern form consists of 24 letters ordered in sequence from alpha to omega...
for names had to be used. Since then there have been a few attempts to get rid of the Greek names as they are seen to be inconsistent with the standard naming convention used for tropical cyclones and are generally unknown and confusing to the public. However none of the attempts have succeeded and thus the Greek alphabet will be used should the lists ever be used up again.
Eastern Pacific
Beginning in 1960, tropical cyclones that were judged by the USWB to have intensified into a tropical storm, with winds of more than 65 km/h (40 mph), started to be assigned female names. The original naming lists were designed to be used year after year in sequence before, early in the 1965 season1965 Pacific hurricane season
Early on the morning of June 17, a tropical depression formed 185 miles west of Puerto Angel, Mexico. The depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Wallie. Meanwhile, Wallie was at its peak intensity of 50 mph . Wallie headed northwest and degenerated into an area of low pressure just off...
, it was decided to rotate the same lists every four years. In 1977, after protests by various women's rights groups, NOAA made the decision to relinquish control over the name selection by allowing a regional committee of the WMO to select new sets of names. The WMO selected six lists of names which contained male names and rotated every six years. They also decided that the new lists of hurricane name would start to be used in 1978 which was a year earlier than the Atlantic. Since 1978 the same lists of names have been used, with names of significant tropical cyclones removed from the lists and replaced with new names. As in the Atlantic basin, should the names preselected for the season be exhausted the contingency plan of using the Greek alphabet for names would be used. However unlike in the Atlantic basin the contingency plan has never had to be used, although in 1985 to avoid using the contingency plan, the letters X, Y, and Z were added to the lists. Since the contingency plan was used during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season
2005 Atlantic hurricane season
The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the most active Atlantic hurricane season in recorded history, repeatedly shattering numerous records. The impact of the season was widespread and ruinous with an estimated 3,913 deaths and record damage of about $159.2 billion...
, there have been attempts to get rid of the Greek names as they are seen to be inconsistent with the standard naming convention used for tropical cyclones and are generally unknown and confusing to the public. However none of the attempts have succeeded and thus the Greek letters will still be used should the lists ever be exhausted.
Central Pacific
Beginning in 1950 tropical cyclones that were judged by the Joint Hurricane Warning Center to have intensified into a tropical storm, with winds of more than 65 km/h (40 mph), started to be assigned names. Between 1950 and 1957, tropical storms were given names from the Hawaiian language before the decision was made in 1957 to take names from the Western Pacific list. In 1979, Hawaiian names were reinstated for tropical depressions intensifying in tropical storms within the Central Pacific. Five sets of Hawaiian names, using only the 12 letters of the Hawaiian alphabetHawaiian alphabet
The Hawaiian alphabet, ka pīʻāpā Hawaiʻi, was adapted from the English alphabet in the early 19th century by American missionaries to print a Hawaiian bible.- Origins :...
, were drafted with the intent being to use the sets of names on an annual rotation basis. However as no tropical cyclones had formed in this region between 1979 and 1981, the original lists were scrapped and replaced with four sets of names. Also, the plan of how to allocate the names was changed to allow all the names to be used consecutively. The naming lists were used until 2007 the lists were revised in conjunction with the University of Hawaii
University of Hawaii
The University of Hawaii System, formally the University of Hawaii and popularly known as UH, is a public, co-educational college and university system that confers associate, bachelor, master, and doctoral degrees through three university campuses, seven community college campuses, an employment...
with one-third of the names being retired or replaced.
Western Pacific
In 1945, the United States armed services, publicly adopted a list of names that they would name tropical depressions that intensified into tropical storms within the western Pacific. During the 1959 season1959 Pacific typhoon season
The 1959 Pacific typhoon season had no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1959, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between June and December...
the US armed services combined to form the Joint Typhoon Warning Center
Joint Typhoon Warning Center
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force task force located at the Naval Maritime Forecast Center in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii...
(JTWC) who took on responsibility for naming all tropical storms between the 100°E
100th meridian east
The meridian 100° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
and 180
180th meridian
The 180th meridian or antimeridian is the meridian which is 180° east or west of the Prime Meridian passing through the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. It is common to both east longitude and west longitude. It is used as the basis for the International Date Line because it for the most part passes...
. Initially the lists of names only consisted of female names before in April 1979, the naming lists were revised to include male names. In 1998 the WMO's/ESCAP typhoon committee, decided that the current naming lists were too English and decided that they would control the list of names with the names assigned to tropical storms by the Japan Meteorological Agency
Japan Meteorological Agency
The or JMA, is the Japanese government's weather service. Charged with gathering and reporting weather data and forecasts in Japan, it is a semi-autonomous part of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport...
instead of the JTWC.
In 1963 the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration
Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration is a Philippine national institution dedicated to provide flood and typhoon warnings, public weather forecasts and advisories, meteorological, astronomical, climatological, and other specialized information and...
decided to start naming tropical depressions with the names of Filipino women which ended in "ng," when they formed or moved into their area of responsibility. They continued the practice of naming tropical depressions, until the 2001 season when they started to name tropical cyclones with male names and scrapped the requirement for them to end in "ng".
North Indian ocean
After the 1999 Orissa Cyclone, the WMO/ESCAP Panel on North Indian tropical cyclones during its annual session in 2000, agreed to start assigning names to Cyclonic Storms that developed within the basinTropical cyclone basins
Traditionally, areas of tropical cyclone formation are divided into seven basins. These include the north Atlantic Ocean, the eastern and western parts of the northern Pacific Ocean, the southwestern Pacific, the southwestern and southeastern Indian Oceans, and the northern Indian Ocean. The...
. As a result of this, the panel requested that each member country submit a list of 10 names to a rapporteur by the end of 2000. At the 2001 session, the rapporteur reported that of the eight countries involved, only India had refused to submit a list of names as it had some reservations, about assigning names to tropical cyclones. The panel then studied the names and felt that some of the names would not be appealing to the public or the media and thus requested that members submit new lists of names. In 2002, the rapporteur reported that there had been a poor response by member countries in resubmitting their lists of names, over the next year each country, bar India submitted a fresh list of names. By the 2004 session, India had still not submitted its names despite promising to do so, however the rapporteur presented the lists of names that would be used with a gap left for India's names. The rapporteur also recommended that the naming lists were used on an experimental basis during the season, starting in May or June 2004. The naming lists were then completed in May 2004, after India submitted their names, however the lists were not used until September 2004 when the first tropical cyclone was named Onil
Cyclone Onil
Severe Cyclonic Storm Onil was the first tropical cyclone to be named in the northern Indian Ocean...
by RSMC New Delhi
India Meteorological Department
The India Meteorological Department , also referred to as the Met Office, is an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India. It is the principal agency responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasting and seismology...
.
South-West Indian ocean
Formal naming of tropical cyclones, in the South-West Indian Ocean began midway through the 1959-60 season, with the first name Alix, assigned to a cyclone in January 1960. Over the years, there have been various selection processes for selecting the names, that will be assigned to tropical and subtropical storms during the season. During the 1980s and 1990s, names were chosen by national meteorological services of the region, in turn for several seasons, with Madagascar's meteorological service, choosing the names at the end of the 1980s and early 1990s, while the Seychelles meteorological service selected the names towards the end of the 1990s. However since the start of the 2000-01 season2000-01 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season
The 2000-01 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone season was an annual event of tropical cyclone formation. It started on November 15, 2000 and ended on April 30, 2001. For Mauritius and the Seychelles, the season continued until May 15. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when...
, the names have been selected a couple of seasons in advance by the WMO's tropical cyclone committee for the South West Indian Ocean. Until the WMO took over selecting the names, all off the names were female, since then, both men and women names have been used. Unlike other basins; RSMC La Reunion
Météo-France
Météo-France is the French national meteorological service.The organisation was established by decree in June 1993 and is a department of the Ministry of Transportation. It is headquartered in Paris but many domestic operations have been decentralised to Toulouse...
does not name tropical cyclones as they intensify into tropical or subtropical storms instead they advise either the meteorological service of Mauritius or Madagascar, who then assigns a name.
Australian region
Tropical lows or tropical depressions that intensify into tropical cyclones within the Australian region have been named since the 1963-64 tropical cyclone season. Between 1963-64 and 1974–75, female names were used exclusively by the warning centers, before the current convention of alternating male and female names began at the start of the 1975-76 cyclone season. Until the start of the 2007-08 season, tropical cyclones were assigned names by the tropical cyclone warning centers in Perth, Darwin, Port Moresby and Brisbane from four different lists. However during the 2007-08 season TCWC Jakarta started to name tropical cyclones before at the start of 2008-09 season, TCWC Perth, Darwin and Brisbane merged their lists into one list.Southern Pacific
Within the Southern Pacific, tropical depressions that develop into tropical cyclones have been officially named since the 1964-65 tropical cyclone season. However some records show that names have been assigned on an irregular basis since the start of the 1955-56 season. Female names were used exclusively until the start of the 1974-75 season, when the current convention of alternating male and female names began. Names are developed by a regional committee of the WMO and are assigned by the Fiji Meteorological ServiceFiji Meteorological Service
The Fiji Meteorological Service is a Department of the government of Fiji responsible for providing weather forecasts and is based in Nadi. Since 1995, FMS has been responsible for naming and tracking tropical cyclones in the Southwest Pacific region...
and the Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited
Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited
Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited was established as a State-Owned Enterprise in 1992. It employs about 215 staff and its headquarters are in Wellington, New Zealand...
.
Other areas
Tropical cyclone formation is rare within the Mediterranean sea, South Atlantic, and to the east of the 120th meridian west in the Southern Pacific, and as a result there are no official naming lists for these areas. In 2004, 2010 and 2011 when tropical cyclones formed within the South Atlantic they were named as Catarina, Anita and Arani.When a tropical cyclone moves from one basin to another
Generally, when a tropical storm moves from one warning center's area of responsibility to another, its original name will be retained. However, before 2001, the National Hurricane CenterNational Hurricane Center
The National Hurricane Center , located at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, is the division of the National Weather Service responsible for tracking and predicting weather systems within the tropics between the Prime Meridian and the 140th meridian west poleward to the 30th...
, used to rename tropical storms when they moved from the Atlantic to the Eastern Pacific or vice versa. Also when a tropical cyclone moves from the Australian region into the South-West Indian Ocean, the Mauritius Meteorological Service will rename it. However when a tropical cyclone moves from the South-West Indian Ocean into the Australian region, it is not renamed. Prior to the 1984–85 season, tropical cyclones were renamed when they crossed 80°E
80th meridian east
The meridian 80° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
. After the Australian region was shortened for the start of the 1985–86 season, tropical cyclones were renamed when they crossed the 90°E
90th meridian east
The meridian 90° east of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole.The Ninety East Ridge is named after the meridian....
instead of 80°E.
Uncertainties of the continuation
When the remnants of a tropical cyclone redevelop, the redeveloping system will be treated as a new tropical cyclone if there are uncertainties of the continuation, even though the original system may contribute to the forming of the new system. An example of this is Severe Tropical Cyclone Wasa-Arthur and Tropical Storm Upana-Chanchu in 2000.Human error
Sometimes, there may be human faults leading to the renaming of a tropical cyclone. This is especially true if the system is poorly organized, such as Tropical Storm Ken-Lola in 19891989 Pacific typhoon season
The 1989 Pacific typhoon season has no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1989, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between May and November. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northwestern...
, or if it passes from the area of responsibility of one forecaster to another.
Retirement
Those cyclones that have their names retired tend to be exceptionally destructive storms that often become household names in the regions they affected. Within the North Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Australian region, the names of significant tropical cyclones are removed from the lists and retired in a meeting of the WMO's regional committee. As a name is generally not used more than once and fresh naming lists are developed each year, there is no need for significant tropical cyclone names to be retired within the South-West Indian Ocean. There currently is not a public policy of retiring names in the North Indian Ocean, as it is rare for a name to be assigned within TCWC Port Moresby's area of responsibility, so the name is automatically retired regardless of any damage caused.See also
- Lists of tropical cyclone names
- List of tropical cyclones
- List of historic tropical cyclone names
- List of retired tropical cyclone names
- George R. StewartGeorge R. StewartGeorge Rippey Stewart was an American toponymist, a novelist, and a professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley...
- StormStormA storm is any disturbed state of an astronomical body's atmosphere, especially affecting its surface, and strongly implying severe weather...