First official day of Atlantic hurricane season; Central Pacific hurricane season starts today

Today is the first official day of 2009 Atlantic hurricane season and will run until November 30. This year, it technically began early with the formation of Tropical Depression One in May. If you live in the Caribbean, Central America, along the coast of the United States, Bermuda, or in Atlantic Canada, make sure you’re prepared. You can find updates, warnings, and advisories on all tropical cyclones in the Atlantic at the National Hurricane Center’s website.

This season’s list of names goes as follows:

• Ana
• Bill
• Claudette
• Danny
• Erika
• Fred
• Grace
• Henri
• Ida
• Joaquin
• Kate
• Larry
• Mindy
• Nicholas
• Odette
• Peter
• Rose
• Sam
• Teresa
• Victor
• Wanda

In the unlikely event they run out of names, the Greek alphabet will be used to name any additional systems.

The central Pacific hurricane season also starts today, so if you live in Hawaii, make sure you’re prepared. The season will end November 30. Updates, warnings, and advisories are available from the Central Pacific Hurricane Center’s website. Names in this area are taken from four cyclic lists of Hawaiian names; the next five names are Lana, Maka, Neki, Omeka, and Pewa.

2009 Pacific hurricane season starts today

The 2009 Pacific hurricane season begins today, and will run until November 30. If you live in Western Mexico, Central America, or California, make sure you’re prepared. You can find updates, warnings, and advisories on all tropical cyclones in the eastern north Pacific at the National Hurricane Center’s website.

This season’s list of names goes as follows:

• Andres
• Blanca
• Carlos
• Dolores
• Enrique
• Felicia
• Guillermo
• Hilda
• Ignacio
• Jimena
• Kevin
• Linda
• Marty
• Nora
• Olaf
• Patricia
• Rick
• Sandra
• Terry
• Vivian
• Waldo
• Xina
• York
• Zelda

In the unlikely event they run out of names, the Greek alphabet will be used to name any additional systems.

The name Alma is history

At its recent meeting, the World Meteorological Organization’s Regional Association IV Hurricane Committee has retired hurricane names from the lists for both the Atlantic and the Eastern Pacific.

From the Atlantic, the names Gustav, Ike, and Paloma were retired and replaced with Gonzalo, Isaias, and Paulette on the name list for the 2014 season. Hurricane Gustav caused over 6 billion dollars in damage and killed 153 people in Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and The United States. Hurricane Ike, the most intense hurricane of the season, caused 32 billion dollars in damage and killed 195 people in The Bahamas, Cuba, and the United States. Hurricane Paloma was not at all a gentle dove as it killed one person and caused nearly a billion dollars in damage in the Cayman Islands and Cuba. Unlike what might have been expected, Hurricane Hanna, which killed over 500 people on Hispaniola, was not retired.

In the Eastern Pacific, for the first time since 2002, a name was removed from the list, as the name Alma was replaced with Amanda on the list for the 2014 season. Tropical Storm Alma was the first Pacific tropical storm to hit Central America since 1949. It killed nine people, five of which were due to the crash of TACA Flight 390 in Tegucigalpa.

Just like the Atlantic, the Eastern Pacific has questionable retirement decisions. Truly bizarre retirement decisions are Fico in 1978, Fefa in 1991, Knut in 1987, and Iva in 1988. None of those caused significant deaths or damage, and Knut did not come anywhere near land. Bad nonretirements include Tara, Liza, Paul, and Tico. Hurricane Tara killed over 500 people in Guerrero in 1961. Although the name Lisa is on the lists for the Atlantic, the name Liza should have been retired in the Pacific as it killed at least 435 people on the Baja California Peninsula in 1976. Hurricane Paul is the second-deadliest Pacific hurricane as it killed over 1000 in El Salvador and Guatemala in 1982. In 1983, Hurricane Tico killed 135 in Mexico, mostly Sinaloa.