2021 Hurricane Season Names: A Storm Called Wanda

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS —Claudette, Odette, Henri and Rose. These are the hurricanes we can look forward to meeting in 2021. Or rather, we hope we don't meet.

NOAA has released its list of hurricane names for the 2021 season and if they sound familiar, it's because we've seen these names before. Since 1953, Atlantic tropical storms have been named by the National Hurricane Center. There are six lists of names and they are re-cycled every six years. For example, the 2021 list will be used again in 2027.

There is a surprising amount of pomp and protocol when it comes to naming storms.

While the National Hurricane Center originally came up with the names, the lists are now managed by the World Meteorological Organization, which has some strict rules in place. Names can only be retired from the list if a storm is so deadly that it would be inappropriate to use the name again. In such cases, the Hurricane Committee must agree to strike the offending name from the list and replace it with a new one. Retired names include Camille, Irma, Marie and Hugo.

It wasn't always this way.

Hurricanes in the West Indies used to be named after the saint's day on which the hurricane made landfall. For example, Hurricane Santa Ana struck Puerto Rico on July 26, 1825. July 26 is Santa Ana Feast Day.

In the 1950s, the U.S. tried to name storms following the alphabet (A, B, C...) but then abandoned the plan and switched to giving all storms female names. It wasn't until 1978 that men's names were included (because men can be loud, scary and destructive, too!)

With that history lesson in mind, here are the 2021 hurricanes:

• Ana
• Bill
• Claudette
• Danny
• Elsa
• Fred
• Grace
• Henri
• Ida
• Julian
• Kate
• Larry
• Mindy
• Nicholas
• Odette
• Peter
• Rose
• Sam
• Teresa
• Victor
• Wanda

And don't forget, hurricane season begins June 1.

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