Goodbye Greek alphabet: big changes to naming hurricanes

Posted: Mar 17, 2021 / 02:54 PM EDT / Updated: Mar 17, 2021 / 04:25 PM EDT

FILE – In this Sept. 12, 2018 photo provided by NASA, Hurricane Florence churns over the Atlantic Ocean heading for the U.S. east coast as seen from the International Space Station. Astronaut Alexander Gerst, who shot the photo, tweeted: “Ever stared down the gaping eye of a category 4 hurricane? It’s chilling, even from space.” (Alexander Gerst/ESA/NASA via AP)

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Hurricane Committee has officially decided that the Greek alphabet will not be used in the future when the list of 21 names is exhausted. They believe that its use created a potentially confusing distraction from communicating the threats of an approaching storm.

WMO #Hurricane Committee has retired #Dorian (2019), #Laura, #Eta and #Iota (2020) from rotating lists of Atlantic names because of the death and destruction they caused
The Greek alphabet will never be used again as it was distracting and confusing
🌀🌀https://t.co/tJGn1dxT1o pic.twitter.com/Eaaockkzbq
— World Meteorological Organization (@WMO) March 17, 2021

Instead, if the standard A-Z (excluding Q, U, X, Y, Z) list is finished, future storms will be named based on a supplemental list of names- starting with A and ending with W. These changes will be put in place for this year’s hurricane season, which will not be moved from its established start date on June 1st this year.

You can see the supplemental list of names to be used below.

Atlantic tropical cyclone names	Pacific tropical cyclone names
Adria	Aidan
Braylen	Bruna
Caridad	Carmelo
Deshawn	Daniella
Emery	Esteban
Foster	Flor
Gemma	Gerardo
Heath	Hedda
Isla	Izzy
Jacobus	Jacinta
Kenzie	Kenito
Lucio	Luna
Makayla	Marina
Nolan	Nancy
Orlanda	Ovidio
Pax	Pia
Ronin	Rey
Sophie	Skylar
Tayshaun	Teo
Viviana	Violeta
Will	Wilfredo
	Xinia
	Yariel
	Zoe