Who names hurricanes and why?

Question

Ivan,Katrina,Gustav who names these hurricanes and why would they. Why would you personify a hurricane?

Answer 1

If I remember the show I saw correctly: they are named by the storm trackers. They go in alphabetical order, they're usually female names, and after Z it goes into the Greek alphabet.  

Answer 2

they are PRE-NAMED and as the next storm comes it is assigned the next name in-line.  I don't know who picks the names to begin with though.

Answer 3

they need to be called something.

the NOAA make them up ahead of time each hurricane season. they go alphabetically.  

Answer 4

So one can keep track of it and remember it ! For example if you said the one that hit New Orleans 3 years ago and caused that devastation would cause confusion ! But everyone remembers"Katrina" ! Incidently not that long ago only female names were used starting with the letter "A" at the beginning of the season and moving through the alphabet ! I believe we have more hurricanes these days with the advent of global warming so now they have added male names  , the current one being "Gustav"! Hope that helps ! *S*

Answer 5

they name them to remember them..like if some one where to be like you remember that hurricane? ok well which one? they name them to..uh...idk the word...but hopefully you get what im saying.

Answer 6

so you have something to identify it by

Answer 7

Hurricanes are named to help us identify storms and track them as they move across the ocean. Sometimes there are multiple hurricanes and this helps us keep track of which is which.

For hundreds of years, hurricanes in the West Indies were named after the particular saint's day on which the hurricane occurred. An Australian meteorologist began giving women's names to tropical storms before the end of the 19th century. In 1953, the U.S. National Weather Service, which is the federal agency that tracks hurricanes and issues warnings and watches, began using female names for storms.

In 1979, both women and men's names were used. One name for each letter of the alphabet is selected, except for Q, U and Z. For Atlantic Ocean hurricanes, the names may be French, Spanish or English, since these are the major languages bordering the Atlantic Ocean where the storm occur.

So who decides what names are used each year? The World Meteorological Organization uses six lists in rotation. The same lists are reused every six years. The only time a new name is added is if a hurricane is very deadly or costly. Then the name is retired and a new name is chosen.

BTW: Hurricane Katrina was retired.  

Answer 8

Experience shows that the use of short, distinctive given names in written as well as spoken communications is quicker and less subject to error than the older more cumbersome latitude-longitude identification methods. These advantages are especially important in exchanging detailed storm information between hundreds of widely scattered stations, coastal bases, and ships at sea.

Since 1953, Atlantic tropical storms have been named from lists originated by the National Hurricane Center. They are now maintained and updated by an international committee of the World Meteorological Organization. The original name lists featured only women's names. In 1979, men's names were introduced and they alternate with the women's names. Six lists are used in rotation. Thus, the 2008 list will be used again in 2014. Here is more information about the history of naming hurricanes.

The only time that there is a change in the list is if a storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for reasons of sensitivity. If that occurs, then at an annual meeting by the WMO committee (called primarily to discuss many other issues) the offending name is stricken from the list and another name is selected to replace it.

Several names have been changed since the lists were created. For example, on the 2007 list (which will be used again in 2013), Dorian has replaced Dean, Fernand has replaced Felix, and Nestor has replaced Noel. Here is more information about retired hurricane names.

In the event that more than 21 named tropical cyclones occur in the Atlantic basin in a season, additional storms will take names from the Greek alphabet: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and so on. If a storm forms in the off-season, it will take the next name in the list based on the current calendar date. For example, if a tropical cyclone formed on December 28th, it would take the name from the previous season's list of names. If a storm formed in February, it would be named from the subsequent season's list of names.

Answer 9

They name hurricanes alphabetically. So if there were 5 then it would be Andrew/Brian/Charlie/Dave/Eduardo.  

Answer 10

i think they go in alphabetical order and restart and i believe the person who finds it first and reports it gives the name or just the national weather service

Answer 11

I think the national weather service does it several years in advance at it goes on a rotating basis.  It always goes boy girl boy girl.  It used to only be women, but they stopped that.  Whatever.  

Answer 12

It is just a way of tracking them and remembering them. The 1st one of the season is named with the letter A, the second B and so on.