Fiona and Ian among retired names from Atlantic hurricane list, per WMO

Storm names are retired when the storms become so deadly and destructive

Fiona and Ian retired from Atlantic hurricane list

ROANOKE, Va. – The World Meteorological Organization retired the names ‘Fiona’ and ‘Ian’ from the list of usable names during any Atlantic hurricane season. In their place, ‘Farrah’ and ‘Idris’ will be used.

Since the early 1950s, the WMO has used names on a six-year cycle when referring to tropical systems.

Names are retired from future use when the storm becomes so dangerous, destructive and/or deadly. For example, if someone said “Hurricane Katrina is forecast to make landfall in 2023,” your mind would go directly back to what happened in 2005. However, it’s a different storm with different properties.

Retired storm names after the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season

In 2022, Fiona was a powerful hurricane that moved through the Caribbean. It killed more than two dozen and was the costliest weather event on record on the Atlantic side of Canada.

Ian was a Category 4 storm upon landfall in both western Cuba and southwest Florida. More than 100 people died due to the storm, and it cost the U.S. more than $100 billion in damages.

You can read the entire release from the World Meteorological Organization here.


About the Author:

Meteorologist Chris Michaels is an American Meteorological Society (AMS) Certified Broadcaster, forecasting weather conditions in southwest Virginia on WSLS 10 News from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays on Virginia Today.