Time to consider adding letters to the name list

[Hurricane Mike]

I'm a very traditional, old fashioned guy. I don't like changing things set in stone, as our hurricane name lists have been for over 40 years. However, I think adding three additional letters to the Atlantic name lists would be a good way to prevent frequent exhaustion of the name list, as well as media sensationalism.

This is already done in the Eastern Pacific. The Eastern Pacific uses the letters X, Y and Z. They have one female name for each letter, and one male name for each letter, and alternate them every two years rather than the way the main name list alternates every six years.

I think adding those three letters to the Atlantic lists would be simple, and their infrequent usage and only needing a total of six different names for all six lists would make the situation much easier.

So I'm proposing something like this:



Any thoughts?

[zhukm29]

Honestly, I think this is something that should be done. If anything, it'll allow the EPAC and NATL lists to mirror each other again. Both lists initially started with 21 names, and then the EPAC got a 3 name extension in 1985 when it exhausted the list. But when the NATL exhausted the list in 2005, this wasn't done for some reason. The only argument I can think against it is the rarity of XYZ names, but with a 2-year rotation with names that late in the list, where the rate of retirement is extremely low, it shouldn't be an issue. With a quick Google search, I can find enough XYZ names to last beyond our lifetimes.

Also, if Yanni is the "Y" name they should replace Laura with "Laurel." But I guess there's a rule against having the same name on the list twice...

[Cleveland Kent Evans]

I will just copy here post #26 from the thread "My column on hurricane names". There are enough Y and Z names you can add a full complement of them. :

If one really wants to add X, there's no reason not to also add Q and U. You could add all the letters if you added EITHER Q, U, or X to every list so you would end up with just two places for each. That would require some shifting of other names below Q but you could end up with lists that look something like these from P on (assuming nothing from Paulette on gets retired after this year):

2021: Peter, Queenie, Rafael, Sara, Tony, Valerie, WIlliam, Yvonne, Zosimo
2022: Paula, Richard, Shary, Tobias, Ursula, Van, Wendy, Yancey, Zita
2023: Philippe, Rina, Sean, Tammy, Vince, Whitney, Xerxes, Yesenia, Zane
2024: Patty, Quentin, Rose, Sam, Teresa, Victor, Wanda, Yahir, Zara
2025: Pablo, Rebekah, Sebastien, Tanya, Uriel, Virginie, Walter, Yetta, Zacharie
2026: Paulette, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky, Wilfred, Xiomara, Yannick, Zoe

[Hurricanehink]

I suggest using an auxiliary list of names that can be either gender.

[ouragans]

I suggest using an auxiliary list of names that can be either gender.

That would be my choice, not one, but two additional lists, each starting with a different gender. For example, 2020 ends with a male name, the additional names list starting with a female name is used. 21 letters still.

These lists would be the same every 2 years, and if a name needs to be replaced, it's easier than finding a new name with the 21 actual letters, than with an X or a Y

This will be submitted to Meteo France for the next comitee

[RL3AO]

There's a reason the West Pacific doesn't have this problem. Now I'm not saying the Atlantic should just have a continual list of names like the WPac. In fact I like the A to whatever nature of the Atlantic. But whether climate change has any impact or not, the vastly improved ability to detect weak tropical storms will continue to lead to the 21 name list being exhausted. I like the idea of having a backup list or two where the names are replaceable.

[Kazmit]

I would be in favour of a continuous list like the WPac, but alphabetically to make it a little less confusing.

[Blinhart]

I would be in favour of a continuous list like the WPac, but alphabetically to make it a little less confusing.

I agree they need to have a set of two or so additional names that can be added onto for hyper-active seasons like this. The Greek system was ok when it looked like it was a once in a lifetime event, but with the way things are going I think it will be a much more common occurence.

[Cleveland Kent Evans]

I suggest using an auxiliary list of names that can be either gender.

That would be my choice, not one, but two additional lists, each starting with a different gender. For example, 2020 ends with a male name, the additional names list starting with a female name is used. 21 letters still.

These lists would be the same every 2 years, and if a name needs to be replaced, it's easier than finding a new name with the 21 actual letters, than with an X or a Y

This will be submitted to Meteo France for the next comitee

It really wouldn't be harder to come up with replacements for Y than it soon will be for I, especially with the fact that Y would be used much less often than I.

[DioBrando]

I'd go for something like this, with the X Y Z names repeating every 2 years.

2025
Andrea
Barry
.....
Xander
Yvonne
Zain

2026
Arthur
Bertha
...
Ximena
Yuri
Zoey