How do hurricanes get their name? And is your name there this year?

They are gradually getting ready for the new Atlantic hurricane season at the National Hurricane Center at the end of May in the United States. A list of names is also included every year. And who knows, yours might be on it too…

An important convention is held each year before the new hurricane season kicks off on June 1. The hurricane committee of the World Meteorological Organization looks back on the past season and ahead to the new one. But what exactly did they decide for the hurricanes of 2022?

First of all, the start date of the season remains unchanged. There is still debate as to whether it should be brought forward to May 15, as is already the case for the hurricane season in the East Pacific.

The past seasons in the Atlantic Ocean have often had a ‘false start’. But things will remain as they were for now as a team from the National Weather Service continues to investigate whether we should not bring the start date forward after all. Although the US National Hurricane Center has been keeping an eye on things since mid-May.

Season 2022 – Atlantic

• Alex
• Bonnie
• Colin
• Danielle
• Earl
• Fiona
• Gaston
• Hermine
• Ian
• Julia
• Karl
• Lisa
• Martin
• Nicole
• Owen
• Paula
• Richard
• Shary
• Tobias
• Virginie
• Walter

The committee also announced the new list of names for the hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30. There are a total of 6 lists that they use alternately. Each of them consists of 21 alphabetically arranged names.

Only the letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z are missing. That means the 2022 hurricane season will use the same names as that of 2016. However, not every name is recycled just like that. Sometimes the committee also withdraws names from the convention. They only do this if a tropical storm or hurricane has caused a lot of damage and/or deaths.

On average, there are one or two a year. If your name is Ida, you’re out of luck. After the devastation of the 2021 Category 4 hurricane of the same name, that name has been permanently deleted and replaced by Imani. In total, 94 names have been deleted since 1953.

In 2021, the hurricane committee also decided that the Greek alphabet would never be used again. Until now, people fell back on this as a reserve list when all names in the name list had been used. But not anymore. That is why there is a reserve list that looks the same as the normal list, but with different names. So you have a little more chance that your name is in it this year.

Reserve list 2022 – Atlantic

• Adria
• Braylen
• Caridad
• Deshawn
• Emery
• Foster
• Gemma
• Heath
• Isla
• Jacobus
• Kenzie
• Lucio
• Makayla
• Nolan
• Orlanda
• Pax
• Ronin
• Sophie
• Tayshaun
• Viviana
• Will

So is your name, for example, Alex, Julia or Nicole? Then a hurricane this year might get your name somewhere between June 1 and November 30. Although it is, of course, to be hoped that it will not be such an extreme year as 2021, the third most active year ever.