From: Slate

Hurricane You

Slate:

Hurricane Sandy charged into the mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States today. Sandy isn’t exactly a common name these days. How can you get a tropical storm named after yourself?

Lobby the National Weather Service. The World Meteorological Association maintains lists of tropical storm names for each of the next six years. When that six-year cycle ends, the sequence of names goes back to the beginning. If your name is Valerie, for example, you might have a storm named after you this year and again in 2018. Wilfreds can hope for tropical storm namesakes in 2014 and 2020. Ophelias should stay tuned to the forecast in 2017 and 2023. (These names only apply to storms in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and North Atlantic. There are separate lists for storms originating in other parts of the world.)

The lists of names don’t change until a storm becomes so powerful and damaging that the World Meteorological Association retires its name from rotation out of respect for the victims of the storm. There will be no more Hurricanes Katrina or Andrew, for example.

Read the whole story: Slate


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