Why did the name of the season's first hurricane begin with "B," do they alternate beginning with "A" or "B?"

Question

I thought they used all of the letters in the alphabet and sometimes had to start over with them depending upon the amount of hurricanes.

Answer 1

The tropical storms are named alphabetically. If the storm turns into a hurricane, then the name of the storm is used for the hurricane. Apparently the one which began with an "A" this year didn't turn into a hurricane.

Answer 2

They name tropical storms.  Hurricanes start as tropical storms.  You didn't hear about the "A" because it never made it to hurricane status.  The Atlantic and the Pacific storms are separate as to naming.

Arthur was the first for the Atlantic Ocean, and Alma was the first this year for the Pacific.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

They did not start with B.  The first one was Arthur and he wasn't known about really, except to the people in Mexico.  He was a tropical storm--I don't think he turned into a full hurricane.

They never alternate.  Always start with an A...

Answer 4

I believe they use A, as in Andrew.  Do they possible assign names to tropical storms that don't become hurricanes?

Answer 5

For every year, there is a pre-approved list of names for tropical storms and hurricanes. These lists have been generated by the National Hurricane Center since 1953. At first, the lists consisted of only female names; however, since 1979, the lists alternate between male and female.

Hurricanes are named alphabetically from the list in chronological order. Thus the first tropical storm or hurricane of the year has a name that begins with "A" and the second is given the name that begins with "B." The lists contain names that begin from A to W, but exclude names that begin with a "Q" or "U."

There are six lists that continue to rotate. The lists only change when there is a hurricane that is so devastating, the name is retired and another name replaces it.

2008 Hurricane Names

Arthur

Bertha

Cristobal

Dolly

Edouard

Fay

Gustav

Hanna

Ike

Josephine

Kyle

Laura

Marco

Nana

Omar

Paloma

Rene

Sally

Teddy

Vicky

Wilfred

Sooooo, to answer your question, Arthur was a tropical storm that did not develop into a hurricane.

Answer 6

For every year, there is a pre-approved list of names for tropical storms and hurricanes. These lists have been generated by the National Hurricane Center since 1953. At first, the lists consisted of only female names; however, since 1979, the lists alternate between male and female.

Hurricanes are named alphabetically from the list in chronological order. Thus the first tropical storm or hurricane of the year has a name that begins with "A" and the second is given the name that begins with "B." The lists contain names that begin from A to W, but exclude names that begin with a "Q" or "U."

There are six lists that continue to rotate. The lists only change when there is a hurricane that is so devastating, the name is retired and another name replaces it.

These are names they will use for 2008 Hurricanes

1# Arthur-Was the first to occure as a tropical storm...Occurred in May

2# Bertha-Is the current storm now a Hurricane

Cristobal

Dolly

Edouard

Fay

Gustav

Hanna

Ike

Josephine

Kyle

Laura

Marco

Nana

Omar

Paloma

Rene

Sally

Teddy

Vicky

Wilfred

Answer 7

It always starts with A. You probably missed it then, if you're talking about Hurricane Bertha this year, youre right. It was the first named HURRICANE, but before that there was a tropical storm. I forgot the name but i know it started with an A. As a matter of fact i was watching the news yesterday and it mention the tropical storm before Bertha. Im from miami, so im highly aware of all that.

Answer 8

So they start with A, but they use the letters for tropical storms as well that have the possibility of turning into hurricanes. (Sustained winds over 45 or something) Here is a CNN story on the storm Arthur!

I hope this helps!

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Tropical Storm Arthur, the first named storm of the 2008 Atlantic season, formed Saturday near the coast of Belize, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Tropical Storm Arthur could make its way across the Yucatan and re-emerge in the Gulf of Mexico.

The storm made its way over land and was expected to weaken, but the center said the storm could re-emerge in the Gulf of Mexico and regain intensity Sunday.

At 11 p.m., the center of Arthur was over the southern Yucatan Peninsula, about 80 miles (125 km) west of Chetumal, Mexico, and about 120 miles (195 km) south-southeast of Campeche, Mexico.

It was moving west at about 7 miles (11 km) per hour.

The storm's maximum sustained winds were near 40 mph (65 km/hr), with higher gusts, mainly over water east of its center. Tropical storm-force winds extend outward up to 260 miles (415 km) from the center of the storm, forecasters said.

The government of Belize issued a tropical storm warning for the nation's coast, and the government of Mexico issued a tropical storm warning from Cabo Catoche south to the border with Belize.

A tropical storm warning means tropical storm conditions are expected within the warning area -- in this case, within the next six to 12 hours.

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On Thursday, Tropical Storm Alma, the first one of the year in the eastern Pacific, formed near the west coast of Central America, according to the National Weather Service. The storm was downgraded to a tropical depression and dissipated over the high terrain of Central America.

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"Nearly one in three said they would not prepare their home until a storm is within 24 hours of landfall," Bill Read, director of the National Hurricane Center, said Thursday.

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