Could Omar be pre-emptedly removed from the Atlantic naming list?

[HurricaneRyan]

Last year, the name Isis was removed from the Eastern Pacific naming list for this year due to the name sounding identical to the terrorist group. Now, as I'm sure many of you guys know, the deadliest mass shooting in US history just occurred in Orlando, Omar Matiff (sorry if the last name is wrong) being the shooter.

The Atlantic side has never removed a name for political reasons, but do you think Omar might be pre-emptedly removed from 2020's list now? Or is it too far away to really be a matter?

[Kingarabian]

It'll be thought about. But there are a lot of good Omar's out there...

A person with a name who committed a despicable act is different than a group like ISIS that is committed to doing despicable and torrid acts. Just going through a list of convicted notorious serial killers in the US, a lot of them bare names that were or are currently being used as Hurricane names.

[jaguarjace]

Also of interest, the name Osama replaced the name Oswald in the Australian Tropical Cyclone Naming List but it was quickly rejected thus leaving a blank space in the list.
http://www.bom.gov.au/cyclone/about/names.shtml

[ConvergenceZone]

Personally I think it would be silly to do that. I can understand ISIS being removed due to it being associated with a large group. But it's silly to remove a name, due to it being a first name of a horrible sick person, especially since(as one poster mentioned) there are probably thousands of really good people with that name. That's almost like someone wanting to change their name for the same reason.....

The main problem with this is,, where would you draw the line? A Tragedy is a Tragedy whether it's one person or 500 people..........

[Hammy]

I disagreed with Isis being removed and I'd disagree here as well. The retirement should be left to whether a storm with that name caused problems, not an individual or a group. Everything else is politicized, we don't need the naming lists to be as well. And all that does is give credibility to the person/group as it associates the name permanently with them as far as the naming list goes.

[O Town]

I'm sorry, maybe it's because this happened down the street from me but I feel quite differently.
I feel they should seriously consider replacing the name. The name of a man responsible for the largest terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11 should not be used as the name of a storm that could also effect the same people in Florida/Orlando. Although the name isn't up for use til 2020, it may not be a priority. I'm sure if it was on the list for this year it would be gone.

Please keep Orlando and all families personally effected in your prayers as we deal with the largest mass shooting in the USA.
#prayfororlando
# ORLANDOSTRONG

[tatertawt24]

The thing is that I'm not sure people are specifically going to associate the attacks with the name Omar a few years from now, because it's not a terribly uncommon name. Omar Epps from House, for instance... Whereas with the name Osama, that really stood out, and there was nothing else to think about.

[HurricaneBelle]

Storms are given names in order to be identified better by the general public. Isis was a natural to be removed from the list because if an Isis formed, there would be confusion about whether the organization or the storm was being referred to (picture the headline "Isis threatens United States"). In this case, nobody is calling what happened in Orlando the "Omar attack" or anything similar to that, so there would be no confusion among the general public if a storm named Omar came around in a few years.

(Plus, if we drop all the first names of mass shooters from the name list, we'll be back to using female names exclusively like pre-1978).

[mitchell]

(Plus, if we drop all the first names of mass shooters from the name list, we'll be back to using female names exclusively like pre-1978).

wow....speechless!

[WeatherGuesser]

As I've said before, I feel all names should be dropped worldwide in favor of a numbering system.

[CrazyC83]

Well, I dunno. Many other names are tied to deadly events like this. Also 4 years is a long time. Maybe if Omar was on the 2016 list it could be removed quickly, but will this still be a major news story in 2020? Once we get closer to that year it could be reassessed.

I think the WMO has the right to bring Isis back once things calm down, which likely isn't for many years.

[StormingB81]

I am from Orlando. I knew someone who knew someone who died in the club. I say no. I mean if we did for everything that happened we would be changing names multiple times a year. There are plenty of good Omar's in this world. Lets not let one ruin it for everyone!

[ftolmsteen]

Removing Omar from the list does nothing other than glorify the shooter's name. It'll be 2020 by the time the name comes around anyway. Enough with the PC'ness.