Hurricane season is only a few weeks away and the list of names that will be used for the 2021 storms has been released.
The Atlantic hurricane season starts June 1. The World Meteorological Organization Hurricane Committee kept the start date even though storms have developed before the official start every year since 2015.
According to the National Hurricane Center, the 2021 list includes the following names:
- Ana
- Bill
- Claudette
- Danny
- Elsa
- Fred
- Grace
- Henri
- Ida
- Julian
- Kate
- Larry
- Mindy
- Nicholas
- Odette
- Peter
- Rose
- Sam
- Theresa
- Victor
- Wanda
The tradition of naming tropical storms started in 1953 and is on a six-year rotation unless a particular storm is deadly or destructive, NOAA said.
The 2022 list is also aleady out and includes the names:
- Alex
- Bonnie
- Colin
- Danielle
- Earl
- Fiona
- Gaston
- Hermine
- Ian
- Julia
- Karl
- Lisa
- Martin
- Nicole
- Owen
- Paula
- Richard
- Shary
- Tobias
- Virginie
- Walter
Four names have been retired from future rotations.
Dorian will be replaced with Dexter. Dorian was a Category 5 storm that damaged the Bahamas in 2019.
Laura will be replaced by Leah after Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 storm, hit Louisiana in August 2020.
>> Related: Hurricanes: Greek letters scrapped; Dorian, Laura storm names retired
Greek names Eta and Iota which both bore down on Nicaragua in November 2020 will be retired.