Because named storms come earlier and form more often in warmer Atlantic waters, meteorologists agreed on Wednesday to stop using the Greek alphabet during its busiest years.
But hurricane season will kick off this year on June 1 as traditionally planned, although meteorologists came up with the idea of moving it to May 15.
A special commission from the World Meteorological Organization agreed on Wednesday to stop using Greek letters when the Atlantic runs out of 21 names for that year, saying the practice was confusing and focused too much on the Greek letter and not so much on the danger of the storm it represented. Also last year, Zeta, Eta and Theta sounded so similar that they caused problems.
The Greek alphabet was only used twice in 2005 and nine times in 2020, in a record hurricane season.
If there are more than 21 storms in the Atlantic Ocean as of this year, the next storms will come from a new additional list led by Adria, Braylen, Caridad and Deshawn and ending with Will. There’s a new Eastern Pacific backup list that starts with Aidan and Bruna and ends with Zoe.
Meanwhile, the National Office for Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is recalculating what an average hurricane season is. After the usual 30-year model update, the new “normal” season would have 19% more storms and major hurricanes. And prominent experts want meteorologists to rethink how they warn people of more intense and rainy storms in the context of global warming.
“Climate change is real and is affecting tropical cyclones,” said Kristen Corbosiero, atmospheric scientist at the University of Albany, New York.
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During the past nine seasons in the Atlantic Ocean, seven tropical storms formed between May 15 and the official start on June 1. Those storms killed at least 20 people and caused about $ 200 million in damage, according to the world organization. For this reason, they have canceled to advance the start of the season and have likely had a study conducted to adopt a new season.
Last year, the Hurricane Center published 36 “special” tropical storm forecasts by June 1, spokesman Dennis Feltgen said. Tropical Storms Arthur and Bertha formed near the states of North and South Carolina before June 1.
“The hurricane season has changed several times since the concept of a hurricane season was proposed,” but not since 1965, said Brian McNoldy, an expert at the University of Miami. “I don’t think it hurts to include the start on May 15th.”