When a tropical storm, or hurricane develops, it is assigned a name by the National Hurricane Center This is so that these particular systems can be identified and explained easily to the people who may be affected by them during the course of a hurricane season.

The naming of tropical storms and hurricanes began in 1953 when the National Weather Service gave the storms female names. Then in 1979, to go along with the times, the National Hurricane Center began to issue both male and female names. They used a rotating list of storm names over a six year cycle, and then recycle the list every six years unless, a storm or hurricane name is retired. When you're done, you can check out the Atlantic storm names.

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2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Alma	Andres	Agatha	Adrian	Aletta	Alvin
Boris	Blanca	Blas	Beatriz	Bud	Barbara
Cristina	Carlos	Celia	Calvin	Carlotta	Cosme
Douglas	Dolores	Darby	Dora	Daniel	Dalilla
Elida	Enrique	Estelle	Eugene	Emilia	Erick
Fausto	Felicia	Frank	Fernanda	Fabio	Flossie
Genevieve	Guillermo	Georgette	Greg	Gilma	Gil
Hernan	Hilda	Howard	Hilary	Hector	Henriette
Iselle	Ignacio	Isis	Irwin	Ileana	Ivo
Julio	Jimena	Javier	Jova	John	Juliette
Karina	Kevin	Kay	Kenneth	Kristy	Kiko
Lowell	Linda	Lester	Lidia	Lane	Lorena
Marie	Marty	Madeline	Max	Miriam	Manuel
Norbert	Nora	Newton	Norma	Norman	Narda
Odile	Olaf	Orlene	Otis	Olivia	Octave
Polo	Patricia	Paine	Pilar	Paul	Priscilla
Rachel	Rick	Roslyn	Ramon	Rosa	Raymond
Simon	Sandra	Seymour	Selma	Sergio	Sonia
Trudy	Terry	Tina	Todd	Tara	Tico
Vance	Vivian	Virgil	Veronica	Vicente	Velma
Winnie	Waldo	Winifried	Wiley	Willa	Wallis
Xavier	Xina	Xavier	Xina	Xavier	Xina
Yolanda	York	Yolanda	York	Yolanda	York
Zeke	Zelda	Zeke	Zelda	Zeke	Zelda

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Whenever, there is a devastating hurricane (usually one that is a major hurricane, and has caused significant damage) in any portion of the Eastern Pacific Basin, that hurricane's name is retired from the list for at least ten years, and probably forever so that future names are not confused with it. This helps a great deal with insurance claims, and legal issues surrounding the storm's impact. Below is a list of all retired names to date.

• Adolph--2001
• Fefa--1991
• Fico--1978
• Knut--1987
• Ismael--1995
• Israel--2001
• Pauline--1997
• Kenna--2002

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