2017 Cyclones Retirement: New names are: Harold / Idalia / Margot / Nigel

[Pressure]

Im pretty sure they retired Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Nate

[cycloneye]

Here are the new replacement names for the retired Harvey,Irma,Maria and Nate.

[northjaxpro]

Well, not exactly menacing replacement names for my taste. I guess it is becoming more challenging with these names. The name Nigel is somewhat interesting to me.

[xtyphooncyclonex]

I got Harold and Nigel right. Idalia seems out of place; they could've chosen something like Ivy or Imogene

[CrazyC83]

There are so few female I names available that one of those names (Ivy, Imogene) would be a frontrunner after 2019 if Imelda is retired.

Nate was a bit of a surprise, but Costa Rica got ravaged by that storm.

[HurricaneEnzo]

Really wasn't expecting Nate to get retired. I thought damage was relatively minor........Maybe I missed/forgot something?

EDIT - forgot it was pretty bad in Costa Rica. Still a bit of a surprise. Carry on.

[Cleveland Kent Evans]

At the moment Harold has an elderly and dorky image for a male name in English speaking countries that will indeed make it seem less "menacing" than I would prefer for a hurricane name.

Idalia is quite rare. It's from a title of the Greek goddess Aphrodite which is from the Greek town of Idalion, where there was an important temple to that goddess. I think it's an odd choice because it probably will not be obvious to a lot of Americans how it should be pronounced.

Margot is also going to lead to a lot of pronunciation difficulties. Though it's the original French spelling of the name, I think most Americans under the age of 40 just aren't going to be familiar enough with it to realize the "t" should be silent. Though perhaps actress Margot Robbie is changing that? Do most young people know her name is pronounced "Margo"? Still, I think the "Margo" spelling would have been better, and would have preferred something more used in Puerto Rico to replace "Maria."

Nigel is a name which has been much more used in the UK than the USA. The few Americans with the name tend to be African-American. It has an effete upper class British image for many Americans but perhaps it doesn't sound quite so namby-pamby in the English speaking Caribbean.

[HurricaneRyan]

They had so many M names and they went with some random sounding one. Megan should have gotten it.

[HurricaneRyan]

With that being said though, here are a few facts about the retirements.

- First H named storm to be retired since 1996
- First N named storm to be retired since 2007
- First I named storm to be retired since 2013
- First time that an M name has been retired in two consecutive seasons
- First time to see more than two names retired in one season since in 2008, and the first season to retire four or more since 2005.
- A total of 86 names have now been retired in the Atlantic.

[Alyono]

if Nate was retired, then why were storms like 1993 Gert, which was more destructive and deadly in the same area, not retired?

[BadLarry95]

if Nate was retired, then why were storms like 1993 Gert, which was more destructive and deadly in the same area, not retired?

Gert hit Mexico which is terrible with retirements. They didn’t even retire Karl in 2010, but then they retired Ingrid

[Alyono]

if Nate was retired, then why were storms like 1993 Gert, which was more destructive and deadly in the same area, not retired?

Gert hit Mexico which is terrible with retirements. They didn’t even retire Karl in 2010, but then they retired Ingrid

Gert also caused severe flooding in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras

[HurricaneRyan]

if Nate was retired, then why were storms like 1993 Gert, which was more destructive and deadly in the same area, not retired?

Gert hit Mexico which is terrible with retirements. They didn’t even retire Karl in 2010, but then they retired Ingrid

Gert also caused severe flooding in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras

My only guess is the older times just weren't as "woke".

[Torino]

I got Harold right. And since 2004: Fiona (Frances), Nestor (Noel), Ian (Igor), Irma (Irene), Sara (Sandy), Elsa (Erika) and Martin (Matthew).

List 3 has now 12 retired names, just like List 2. Just to remember, the first name to be retired from this list was Floyd in 1999.
List 5 (2019) holds the record with 13 and still has a cycle to go.
List 4 (2018) has only 4. Will 2018 catch up with the others? Hopefully not.

[BadLarry95]

I got Harold right. And since 2004: Fiona (Frances), Nestor (Noel), Ian (Igor), Irma (Irene), Sara (Sandy), Elsa (Erika) and Martin (Matthew).

List 3 has now 12 retired names, just like List 2. Just to remember, the first name to be retired from this list was Floyd in 1999.
List 5 (2019) holds the record with 13 and still has a cycle to go.
List 4 (2018) has only 4. Will 2018 catch up with the others? Hopefully not.

I think this is also the first one with half of the originals gone

Dennis
Floyd
Harvey
Irene
Katrina
Lenny
Maria
Nate
Rita
Stan
Wilma

11/21

[CrazyC83]

I got Harold right. And since 2004: Fiona (Frances), Nestor (Noel), Ian (Igor), Irma (Irene), Sara (Sandy), Elsa (Erika) and Martin (Matthew).

List 3 has now 12 retired names, just like List 2. Just to remember, the first name to be retired from this list was Floyd in 1999.
List 5 (2019) holds the record with 13 and still has a cycle to go.
List 4 (2018) has only 4. Will 2018 catch up with the others? Hopefully not.

I think this is also the first one with half of the originals gone

Dennis
Floyd
Harvey
Irene
Katrina
Lenny
Maria
Nate
Rita
Stan
Wilma

11/21

Yep that is correct. Remaining are Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Emily, Gert, Jose, Ophelia, Philippe, Tammy and Vince.

[Andrew92]

if Nate was retired, then why were storms like 1993 Gert, which was more destructive and deadly in the same area, not retired?

Or Bret from that same year,.and don't tell me because it was "just" a tropical storm. That one had an even stronger case and didn't go!

Harold and Nigel sound pretty mean for future hurricanes. I'm not sure I'm as crazy for Idalia or Margot though, but I might like the latter better without the T at the end.

-Andrew92

[Chris90]

Harold seems so out of place with the other names they chose. It's just a much more classic, old-fashioned name compared to something like Idalia. I think something like Hayden would have fit better with the other names they chose.
The name that really fascinates me though is Idalia. I've known people with all the other replacement names, but I've never even heard of Idalia, much less met someone with the name. It'll be interesting when that name is used to hear all the different pronunciations on-air mets use.

[CrazyC83]

A few slight changes in track, or whims of countries affected, could have reduced the 10 remaining names on this list down to 5:

* Bret: Could have easily been retired in 1999 had it not made landfall in the middle of nowhere. I don't know about 1993 though, Venezuela has never made a case.

* Emily: Has had multiple opportunities. 2005 was definitely one that could have gone in the direction of retirement, but it survived.

* Gert: Worst storm of 1993 and could have easily gone down by several countries.

* Jose: A slight change in track would have sent it directly over the NE Caribbean this year.

* Ophelia: If it moved closer to shore in 2005, or was a bit stronger...

[Andrew92]

* Gert: Worst storm of 1993 and could have easily gone down by several countries.

I won't argue much with the last point, and Gert was a bad storm. But Bret was worse. Gert may have caused more damage, but Bret killed much more people, roughly 200. Even the most horrific damage can still be repaired, but lives lost cannot be replaced.

-Andrew92