Hurricane Hub

Tips and insights to help you handle those inevitable Florida hurricanes.

How are storms named?

The World Meteorological Organization develops the names for both Northern Pacific and Atlantic storms. They rotate between six lists of 21 names for both the Atlantic Ocean and Eastern North Pacific storms. That means every six years, the names cycle back around and get reused.

The names alternate between male and female names, starting with A, but without Q and U, X, Y, and Z. If more than 21 names are needed during a season, the WMO uses a backup list of names.
 

2023 Hurricane Names

If a hurricane does tremendous damage, like Katrina, Sandy, or Harvey, the name is retired and replaced by a different name beginning with the same letter.

Retired hurricane names in the past decade include: Igor, Thomas (2010), Irene (2011), Sandy (2012), Ingrid (2013), Erika, Joaquin (2015), Matthew, Otto (2016), Harvey, Irma, Maria, Nate (2017), Florence, Michael (2018), Dorian (2019) and Laura (2020). 

Download PTI’s Hurricane Preparedness Guide for more tips on how to prepare for hurricane season in Florida.