Why Are Hurricane Names Are Retired

  When a major hurricane impacts a country that country can request the name of the hurricane be “retired” through the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in Geneva Switzerland. Retiring a name actually means that it will not be reused for at least 10 years, to preserve historic references, legal actions, insurance claims, and other activities related to that storm.  Retiring hurricane names therefore helps avoid public confusion with another storm of the same name. Below is a list of retired hurricane names for the Atlantic, the years the hurricanes occurred, and the areas affected since 1950 when the current naming convention was established: Agnes (1972): Florida, Northeast U.S. Alicia (1983): North Texas Allen (1980): Antilles, Mexico, South Texas Allison (2001): northeast Texas Andrew (1992): Bahamas, South Florida, Louisiana Anita (1977): Mexico Audrey (1957): Louisiana, North Texas Betsy (1965): Bahamas, Southeast Florida, Southeast Louisiana Beulah (1967): Antilles, Mexico, South Texas Bob (1991): North Carolina & Northeast U.S. Camille (1969): Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama Carla (1961): Texas Carmen (1974): Mexico, Central Louisiana Carol (1954): Northeast U.S. Cesar (1996): Honduras Celia (1970): South Texas Charley (2004): Jamaica, western Cuba, Florida Cleo (1964): Lesser Antilles, Haiti, Cuba, Southeast Florida Connie (1955): North Carolina David (1979): Lesser Antilles, Hispañola, Florida and Eastern U.S. Dennis (2005): Alabama, Florida Diana (1990): Mexico Diane (1955): Mid-Atlantic U.S. & Northeast U.S. Donna (1960): Bahamas, Florida and Eastern U.S. Dora (1964): Northeast Florida Edna (1968) Elena (1985): Mississippi, Alabama, Western Florida Eloise (1975): Antilles, Northwest Florida, Alabama Fabian (2003): Bermuda Fifi (1974): Yucatan Peninsula, Louisiana Flora (1963): Haiti, Cuba Floyd (1999): North Carolina, eastern seaboard Fran (1996): North Carolina Frances (2004): Florida Frederic (1979): Alabama and Mississippi Georges (1998): Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, Mississippi Gilbert (1988): Lesser Antilles, Jamaica, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico Gloria (1985): North Carolina, Northeast U.S. Hattie (1961): Belize, Guatemala Hazel (1954): Antilles, North and South Carolina Hilda (1964): Louisiana Hortense (1996) Hugo (1989): Antilles, South Carolina Inez (1966): Lesser Antilles, Hispanola, Cuba, Florida Keys, Mexico Ione (1955): North Carolina Iris (2001): Belize, Guatemala Isabel (2003): North Carolina Isidore (2002): Cuba, northern Yucatan Peninsula, Louisiana Ivan (2004): Lesser Antilles, Jamaica, western Cuba, Alabama, western Florida panhandle Janet (1955): Lesser Antilles, Belize, Mexico Jeanne (2004): Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Haiti, northern Bahamas, Florida Joan (1988): Curacao, Venezuela, Colombia, Nicaragua (Crossed into the Pacific and became Miriam) Juan (2003): Nova Scotia Katrina (2005): South Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama Keith (2000): Belize, Mexico Klaus (1990): Martinique Lenny (1999): Antilles Lili (2002): Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Louisiana Luis (1995) Marilyn (1995): Bermuda Michelle (2001): Central America, Cuba, northern Bahamas Mitch (1998): Central America, Nicaragua, Honduras Opal (1995): Florida Panhandle Rita (2005): northeast Texas, western Louisiana Roxanne (1995): Yucatan Peninsula Stan (2005): Mexico Wilma (2005): northeast Yucatan Peninsula, Florida