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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2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Aletta	Alvin	Amanda	Andres	Agatha	Adrian
Bud	Barbara	Boris	Blanca	Blas	Beatriz
Carlotta	Cosme	Cristina	Carlos	Celia	Calvin
Daniel	Dalilla	Douglas	Dolores	Darby	Dora
Emilia	Erick	Elida	Enrique	Estelle	Eugene
Fabio	Flossie	Fausto	Felicia	Frank	Fernanda
Gilma	Gil	Genevieve	Guillermo	Georgette	Greg
Hector	Henriette	Hernan	Hilda	Howard	Hilary
Ileana	Ivo	Iselle	Ignacio	Isis	Irwin
John	Juliette	Julio	Jimena	Javier	Jova
Kristy	Kiko	Karina	Kevin	Kay	Kenneth
Lane	Lorena	Lowell	Linda	Lester	Lidia
Miriam	Manuel	Marie	Marty	Madeline	Max
Norman	Narda	Norbert	Nora	Newton	Norma
Olivia	Octave	Odile	Olaf	Orlene	Otis
Paul	Priscilla	Polo	Patricia	Paine	Pilar
Rosa	Raymond	Rachel	Rick	Roslyn	Ramon
Sergio	Sonia	Simon	Sandra	Seymour	Selma
Tara	Tico	Trudy	Terry	Tina	Todd
Vicente	Velma	Vance	Vivian	Virgil	Veronica
Willa	Wallis	Winnie	Waldo	Winifried	Wiley
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
• Alma--2008
• Fefa--1991
• Fico--1978
• Knut--1987
• Ismael--1995
• Israel--2001
• Pauline--1997
• Kenna--2002

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