WASHINGTON — The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season is almost halfway over and there have been 11 named storms so far, leaving 10 names left to use during the season.
Since 1953, the National Hurricane Center has provided lists of names for Atlantic tropical storms. The lists are now maintained and updated by a committee of the World Meteorological Organization.
There are currently six lists of names that are used in rotation and the lists are recycled every six years, meaning the list of names for the 2023 season will be used again in 2029.
The only time this differs is when a name is removed or "retired" from the list due to the storm being so deadly or costly that it would be inappropriate to use it as a name for a different storm. Some examples of names that have been retired include such storms as "Katrina," "Andrew," and "Ian."
There have been three reported hurricanes since the start of the 2023 season, which began on June 1 and will end on November 30, with two becoming major hurricanes (Franklin and Idalia).
Here are the hurricane names used and those left to use this season:
Named storms:
- Arlene, Tropical storm, June 1-3
- Bret, Tropical storm, June 19-24
- Cindy, Tropical storm, June 22-24
- Don, Category 1 hurricane, July 14-24
- Gert, Tropical storm, August 19-22
- Emily, Tropical storm, August 20-21
- Franklin, Category 4 hurricane, August 20-September 1
- Harold, Tropical storm, August 21-23
- Idalia, Category 4 hurricane, August 26-31
- Jose, Tropical storm, August 29-September 2
- Katia, Tropical storm, September 1-present
Names left to use:
- Lee
- Margot
- Nigel
- Ophelia
- Philippe
- Rina
- Sean
- Tammy
- Vince
- Whitney
Hurricanes have been named since 1954 and were originally only given traditional female names. Now, they alternate between both traditionally male and female names.
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