What Happened to the Other Letters?

[blacklabman]

I recall that beta was the 23rd named storm of the season. Since alpha and beta total two and there are 26 letters in the alphabet, that should total 28. What happened to the other letters? Perhaps somebody is too lazy to think of q (Quasimoto), x (Xena), or Z (Zelda)?

 

[Barnacle]

Perhaps somebody is too lazy to think of q (Quasimoto), x (Xena), or Z (Zelda)?

Yep! That's what happened!!

 

[crabcake]

Experience shows that the use of short, distinctive given names in written as well as spoken communications is quicker and less subject to error than the older more cumbersome latitude-longitude identification methods. These advantages are especially important in exchanging detailed storm information between hundreds of widely scattered stations, coastal bases, and ships at sea.

 

[crabcake]

Anyone wanna lay odds that Katrina is added to this list? :shrug:

 

[blacklabman]

So they use six years in rotation. I am not on the list for any year. That's discrimination. Contact the ACLU! They need another frivolous lawsuit.

BTW, it's P.

 

[crabcake]

BTW, it's P.

 

[DMJ]

2005
Arlene
Bret
Cindy
Dennis
Emily
Franklin
Gert
Harvey
Irene
Jose
Katrina
Lee
Maria
Nate
Ophelia
Philippe
Rita
Stan
Tammy
Vince
Wilma

I dont remember seeing half of these

 

[Bogart]

I'd like to nominate Q*Bert

 

[crabcake]

I dont remember seeing half of these

Most of them probably weren't newsworthy. They name 'em so they can track 'em, but if it's not a threat to land, you likely wouldn't hear about it.

 

[camily]

I'd like to nominate Q*Bert

 

[tirdun]

I dont remember seeing half of these

Here's some compilation data from NOAA, wikipedia and weather.com

Arlene: Hit Pensacola FL on 11 June as a Cat 1. No major damage. 1 death
Bret: Hit Tuxpan Mexico on 29 June as a Tropical Storm. Lots of storm damage, 2 deaths.
Cindy: Hit Mexico on 4 July, then hit Great Isle, LA on 5 July. Spawned a tornado which did a lot of localized damage. 3 deaths.
Dennis: Hut Cuba as a Cat 4 on 8 July. Hit Pensacola as a Cat 3 on 11 July. Notable for record-breaking intesification. 70-170 deaths, 10 in Florida.
Emily: Hit Grenada as a Cat 1 on 14 July, then hit the Yucatan as a Cat 2 on 18 July and again on the 20th. 14 deaths.
Franklin: No landfall, followed the traditional Atlantic coast parallel path and reached Cat 1 on 24 July.
Gert: Hit Tampico, Mexico as a Cat 1 on 25 July. No deaths.
Harvey: No landfall, reached Cat 1 on 4 Aug
Irene: Reached Cat 2 (barely) on 16 Aug. Followed Franklin up the East coast.
Jose: Hit Veracruz, Mexico on 23 Aug as a Cat 1. 8-10 deaths.
Katrina: I'm sure you remember this one. Katrina crossed Florida on 25 August (Tropical Storm), then struck Pearlington, MS as a Cat 3. Estimated 1400 deaths.
Lee: Became a tropical storm in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on 31 August.
Maria: Managed Cat 3 status on 4 September, eventually hit Iceland as a Tropical Storm. 1 Death.
Nate: Indirect hit on Bermuda on 8 September as a Cat 1.
Ophelia: Parked off the coast of the SE USA from 9 to 11 September as a Tropical Storm/Cat 1.
Philippe: Died in the Gulf of Mexico on 23 September.
Rita: Hit TX/LA border on 24 September as a Cat 4(?). 6 deaths.
Stan: Struck Mexico twice on 4 October, both times as a Cat 1. Some 1200 deaths were reported due to mudslides.
Tammy: Hit Jacksonville, FL as a Tropical Storm on 6 October, then turned north and hit New Hampshire as a non-tropical storm on 8 October.
Vince: Hit Huelva Spain on 11 October as a Tropical Storm. First tropical storm to ever hit Spain/Portugal.
Wilma: Hit the Yucatan in Mexico on 22 October as a Cat 4 after reaching record-setting Cat 5 strength. Then turned NE and hit Everglades City, FL on 24 October as a Cat 3. 47 deaths.
Alpha: Hit Haiti on 24 October as a Tropical Storm. Was later swallowed up by Wilma as it moved NE through the Atlantic. 9 deaths.
Beta: No landfall, made Cat 3 on 30 October

 

[Bruzilla]

Tammy never got close enough to Jacksonville to do little more than drop about an inch of rain on us over the course of two days.

 

[Bustem' Down]

I remember Hurricane Alicia when it came through Houston. I'm still waiting for Hurricane Bustem'