For the Atlantic Basin, the hurricane names list for 2011 is as follows:
Arlene
Bret
Cindy
Don
Emily
Franklin
Gert
Harvey
Irene
Jose
Katia
Lee
Maria
Nate
Ophelia
Philippe
Rina
Sean
Tammy
Vince
Whitney
This list is the same as that of the 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season, with the exceptions of Don, Katia, Rina, Sean, and Whitney, which replaced Dean, Katrina, Rita, Stan, and Wilma, respectively, as the latter were retired from the circulating names list in the same year.
Monday, May 16, 2011
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4 comments:
Hi Louis
You mentioned that names are retired after they become hurricanes. Is this also true of tropical storms that are named?
Thank you
Aunt Jan
Thank you for your comment. Hurricane names are retired only if they cause significant damage or have a large death toll. Otherwise, the name stays in the circulating names list. Most of the time only the most powerful hurricanes merit retirement, but, in the Atlantic Basin, a single tropical storm has qualified for retirement, namely Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, retired for causing significant flooding damage in the south central United States.
Dear P.Q.
In lieu of the horrendous weather we have already experienced this spring, i.e. deadly tornados, severe flooding, droughts, etc., do you feel this unstable weather will also affect the hurricane season?
A.J.
Thank you for your comment. I have done some research in that particular area, and much of it pertains to the El Nino and La Nina Oscillations, which I have a post on (at http://quibb.blogspot.com/2008/06/el-nino-and-la-nina.html).
We are currently in a La Nina event, (low pressure situated over the Eastern Pacific Ocean) which began in 2010, causing the unusually active 2010 Hurricane Season. An additional effect of a La Nina event is a jet stream over the U.S. that is weak, and displaced to the north.
Since frontal systems often move with the jet stream, storms this year have often missed the south U.S., causing severe drought, and since the jet stream is slow and weak, powerful storms have stalled over the Midwest. This causes continued rain, along with increased tornado risk, which account for many of the weather events that you have described.
Finally, La Nina events lead to relative absence of wind shear, which provides a favorable environment for tropical cyclone formation. Coupled with warm ocean temperatures, there is a potential for much activity in the Atlantic Basin, and this is reflected in my predictions for the 2011 season.
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