How Hurricane Milton Got Its Name: Breaking Down the Storm System

How Hurricane Milton Got Its Name: Breaking Down the Storm System

As a lifestyle expert with extensive experience living through hurricane seasons, I cannot help but feel a mix of emotions when I see the list of names assigned to these powerful storms. On one hand, it’s fascinating to learn about the history and process behind naming them, and on the other, it serves as a grim reminder of their destructive potential.


Hurricane season often sounds like a classroom roll call. 

In June, when tropical storms and hurricanes leave the Atlantic Ocean and hit land, they are given specific names. At present, following the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in the southeastern United States, Florida residents are preparing for Hurricane Milton, currently a Category 4 storm, to come ashore on October 9.

Why are these destructive natural disasters given friendly-sounding names like your grandmother’s friends? It aids meteorologists and the public in tracking storms and identifying their progress through hurricane season. The World Meteorological Organization assigns these names, beginning with ‘A’, such as Alberto for 2024, and ending with William. Other names this season might include Nadine, Oscar, Patty, Rafael, Sara, Tony, and Valerie.

As a dedicated follower, I’d like to share a fascinating piece of history about naming storms during World War II. Back then, meteorologists in the Army and Navy began assigning female names to tropical storms as they tracked their paths across the Pacific Ocean, following a practice established by the National Hurricane Center. Fast forward to 1953, when the United States adopted this method. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration compiled a list of women’s names for Atlantic tropical storms, which they started using from that year onward.

Approximately 25 years after the passage, in the year 1979, gender-neutral names were incorporated, and they now alternate with female ones. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has stringent guidelines when selecting names, such as character length and simple pronunciation. There are six lists being cycled through, encompassing 21 letters but omitting Q, U, X, Y, and Z since it’s challenging to find six easily pronounceable names for each.

“It is important to note that tropical cyclones/hurricanes are named neither after any particular person, nor with any preference in alphabetical sequence,” the WMO explained. “The tropical cyclone/hurricane names selected are those that are familiar to the people in each region.”

How Hurricane Milton Got Its Name: Breaking Down the Storm System

As a dedicated follower, I want to share some insights about hurricane naming. In the past 15 years, it’s rare, but there have been only two instances where the regular list of names for storms ran out – in 2005 and 2020, remarkably high-intensity hurricane years. During these exceptional years, we resorted to using the Greek alphabet for naming the storms that followed the standard list. Therefore, as we move into 2021, a supplementary list was created to handle any additional storms, starting with Adria and ending with Will.

As a lifestyle expert, I’d like to share some insights about tropical storm naming. You see, certain names are taken out of rotation because the storms associated with them were exceptionally devastating or expensive, making it insensitive to reuse those names for future storms due to obvious reasons of sensitivity. The National Hurricane Center is in charge of this process and every spring, they gather with the World Meteorological Organization to decide which storms should have their names retired.

How Hurricane Milton Got Its Name: Breaking Down the Storm System

Each year, hurricane names are retired if they cause significant damage or loss of life, and new names are assigned in their place for future seasons. For example, Katrina (2005), which took over 1,300 lives and caused $161 billion in damage, was replaced by Katia in the 2018 season. Similarly, Sandy (2012) became Sara, Harvey (2017) became Harold, Idalia replaced Irma, Margot replaced Maria, Nigel took over for Nate, and Imani replaced Ida in their respective seasons.

The destruction that usually occurs is beyond comprehension. A resident described the scene as looking like an apocalypse to NBC News a year after Hurricane Ida in 2022, saying it felt like being on a movie set with zombies appearing, and it was quite depressing.

After the storm hit the area, one resident noted that the locals have been struggling with increased levels of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress due to the hurricane. This isn’t limited to adults; even teenagers and children are experiencing these issues as well.

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2024-10-07 20:50