How Hurricanes Get Their Names

Every year, during hurricane season, there is much debate about how hurricanes get their names. Here's a little knowledge that you can drop at your next cocktail party.

While alphabetical order is clear, there is much more to naming storms. Short and distinguishable names are now used (as opposed to the older method of identifying a storm by its latitude and longitude).

Every region in the U.S. has its own naming procedure (the storm-prone Atlantic and Eastern North Pacific having the most elaborate), with a pre-approved set of names familiar to that area. The lists are used in rotation every six years, meaning the same list of names that was used to name Gustav will be used again in 2014.

Each of the six alphabetized lists includes 21 pre-approved names, with the letters Q,U,X,Y, and Z excluded.

Lists are not designated by year. If the third name on a list is the last storm to hit, then the first storm of the following year is named simply by picking the next name on the list.

Exceptions to these rules include retiring severe names from the list (Katrina, Andrew, etc.). Also, in extreme conditions, the Greek alphabet is an option in the Atlantic. As a back-up, storms take on names like Hurricane Alpah and Tropical Storm Beta whan all 21 names from that year's pre-approved list have already been used.

So, there you have it. Stay dry.