August 1, 2020

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Why Hurricane Names Are Retired

Deaths or excessive damage put Katrina, Maria, Harvey and other monikers out of circulation

By Mark Fischetti & Will Chase

hurricane names graphic

Will Chase

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Since 1950, when a formal naming process began, the monikers of 89 northeastern Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico hurricanes have been retired because of the deaths or excessive financial damage they caused. A list of 21 names is designated for each of six successive years; in year seven, the set from year one repeats, and so on. (Beyond 21, which is rare, names come from the Greek alphabet.) Retired names are replaced. A storm “Florence” formed eight times before it achieved infamy in 2018. In the mid-1900s fatalities may have been high even when damages were modest, in part because early-warning systems and emergency responses were not as effective as today. In recent times damages have mounted largely because coastal population and value of infrastructure have risen dramatically.

Credit: Will Chase; Sources: NOAA hurricane database (storm dates, landfall information and classifications); Death and damage values compiled from a variety of government and news reports; Damage amounts were adjusted for inflation

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Mark Fischetti was a senior editor at Scientific American for nearly 20 years and covered sustainability issues, including climate, environment, energy, and more. He assigned and edited feature articles and news by journalists and scientists and also wrote in those formats. He was founding managing editor of two spin-off magazines: Scientific American Mind and Scientific American Earth 3.0. His 2001 article “Drowning New Orleans” predicted the widespread disaster that a storm like Hurricane Katrina would impose on the city. Fischetti has written as a freelancer for the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Smithsonian and many other outlets. He co-authored the book Weaving the Web with Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, which tells the real story of how the Web was created. He also co-authored The New Killer Diseases with microbiologist Elinor Levy. Fischetti has a physics degree and has twice served as Attaway Fellow in Civic Culture at Centenary College of Louisiana, which awarded him an honorary doctorate. In 2021 he received the American Geophysical Union’s Robert C. Cowen Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism. He has appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press, CNN, the History Channel, NPR News and many radio stations.

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Scientific American Magazine Vol 323 Issue 2This article was published with the title “Hurricane Infamy” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 323 No. 2 (), p. 78
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0820-78
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