Why are hurricanes named after men?

Answer 1

Tropical storms and hurricanes are given names to avoid confusion when more than one storm is being followed at the same time. A storm is named when it reaches tropical storm strength with winds of 39 mph. A Western Hemisphere storm becomes a hurricane when its wind speed reaches 74 mph.

Separate sets of hurricane names are used in the central Pacific, eastern Pacific, and the Atlantic Basin, which includes the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. The World Meteorological Organization's Region 4 Hurricane Committee selects the names for Atlantic Basin storms. The names are English, Spanish and French - the languages spoken in the national Atlantic Basin storms hit. They alternate between male and female names. The group has selected six sets of names, which means each set of names is used again each six years.

Forecasters begin using names in 1950. In that year and in 1951, names were from the international phonetic alphabet in use at the time - Able, Baker, Charlie, etc. Female, English-language names were used beginning in 1953.

Alternating male and female names were first used to name Atlantic Basin hurricanes in 1979. This was also the first year that French and Spanish names, as well as English, were used. The first three male names used, Bob, David and Frederick have all been retired because they did tremendous damage. Frederick and David were retired because of the damage they did in 1979. Bob was retired after a hurricane by that name hit New England in 1991.

The first storm each year in the Atlantic Basin and in the eastern Pacific gets an 'A' name. But the year's first hurricane in the central Pacific from 140 degrees west longitude to the International Date Line and the first typhoon west of the Date Line get the next available name on the list, no matter what letter it

begins with...

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All hurricanes are given names. Why is that? To help us identify storms and track them as they move across the ocean. Remember, there can be more than one hurricane at a time and without naming them, we could get confused and which storm we're talking about.

For hundreds of years, hurricanes in the West Indies were named after the particular saint's day on which the hurricane occurred. An Australian meteorologist began giving women's names to tropical storms before the end of the 19th century. In 1953, the U.S. National Weather Service, which is the federal agency that tracks hurricanes and issues warnings and watches, began using female names for storms.

So who decides what names are used each year? The World Meteorological Organization uses six lists in rotation. The same lists are reused every six years. The only time a new name is added is if a hurricane is very deadly or

costly. Then the name is retired and a new name is chosen.

Different lists of names are used for hurricanes in different regions. Different regions have different rules (for example, Atlantic hurricane names skip the letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z, while Australian region hurricane names also avoid these letters generally but sometimes substitute a name beginning with Q for a name beginning with P, or a name beginning with U for one beginning with V, and the last name on the list may begin with a W, X, Y or Z.). If there are many hurricanes in a given season, the list of names for that year may "run out", in which case again different rules are followed. Atlantic storms begin using the Greek alphabet; Australian storms start over and reuse earlier names.

Answer 2

Each list of names for hurricanes ... a different list every year ... alternates

masculine and feminine names.

That means that whenever you hear about a hurricane with a boy's name,

the one before it and the one after it both have girls' names.

Answer 3

Hurricanes aren't necessarily named after men. The people who name them alternate between guys and girls names. So if they give one a guy's name, the next one will have a girl's name.

Actually, until 1979, the lists were made up only of women's names, but because of claims that the naming convention was sexist, the lists of names for hurricanes and tropical storms after 1979 have alternated between men's names and women's names.

Answer 4

Hurricane are named mostly to avoid confusion if there is more than one storm in the same ocean basin. Names can also distinguish different storms that hit the same area.

Answer 5

They name hurricanes because they don't have other names for the hurricanes.

Answer 6

Hurricanes are named after both males and females.