Sorry to say another big hurricane looks to be bearing down on Florida...so all our Florida folks take care of yourselves and keep us posted when you can.
How can it be called Frances when the sixth major hurricane of 1998 was already called Frances?
Should you wonder, here is what the rest of the storms for 2004 will be called, if they all happen:
Gaston
Hermine
Ivan
Jeanne
Karl
Lisa
Matthew
Nicole
Otto
Paula
Richard
Shary
Tomas
Virginie
Walter
Father Steve, they only retire the name if they consider it to be an historic storm. Otherwise, they keep recycling the names every three years or so. The criteria for judging a storm historic is comprised of various factors including magnitude and damage (in $$ and lives).
I suppose it is only sensible to retire a storm name from time to time. Otherwise, you would eventually end up naming storms things like Etheldreda and Persephone and Ooglik and Cher.
And every other year they reverse the order so next year they will start with zed.
>And every other year they reverse the order so next year they will start with zed.
Could you supply a link for that, Ted? This page,
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames.shtml makes no mention of an order reversal
Oops. As soon as you mentioned it I realized I was wrong. I don;t know where I got that notion. Perhaps at one time they did that for cyclones in the Pacific, but a quick google didn't turn up anything definitive.
Drat. I hate it when I do that.
How can it be called Frances when the sixth major hurricane of 1998 was already called Frances?
Perhaps this is the second coming?
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames.shtmlLook in the menu on the left, and click on Storm Names.
Six lists are used in rotation. Thus, the 2004 list will be used again in 2010.
And every other year they reverse the order so next year they will start with zed.
Are you calling me a blowhard, TEd?
Gaston already happened this year, forming rapidly out from Jacksonville, I hear, and causing flooding, etc., up the Atlantic coast.
And we're hoping TD10(I think that's the number) won't intensify enough to be renamed Hermine.
There's a Howard in the pacific just now, too, but I guess they must have a whole 'nother
namelist for that area.
I knew I should have looked at your link before I posted, Jackie! Things really get complex with the Pacific names, don't they? Thanks for the info.
<sniff>
chopped liver again!
Aha--but you didn't mention the menu item... (Maybe if I go on the attack, he'll be deflected from my error.)
Geeminy Christmas--I just heard on our noon news that Florida is undergoing the largest evacuation in the history of the state. The northbound highways are clogged. Expected landfall is Sunday (the 5th.). Then they went on to say that the wind force has decreased slightly. THEN they said that since it will be passing over warmer water, the wind speed might increase. Sheesh--whatever happens (or hopefully, doesn't!), all you folks in FL take care, please. We love you all. Current wind speed is 115 mph and the storm is a hundred miles across.
Thanks, Jackie. Lots of folks on the east coast of FL are already without power and here in SW FL we don't really know what to expect--some say it's all missed us, others that it's so big we'll probably get hurricane force winds way over here--I just expect that however hard it blows it'll keep blowing and raining for a day or two. We'll just have to hang in!
HA! I knew I didn't want to retire to Florida !
Holding good thoughts for all those who did.