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Hurricanes Fiona, Ian did enough damage to get names retired
The names Fiona and Ian will no longer appear on the annual lists of names available for tropical systems.
The World Meteorological Organization retired those names, citing the damage they did during the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season.
Each year, the WMO outlines a list of 21 names in alphabetical order (there are no Q, U, X, Y or Z names) to be used as storms form in the Atlantic. Those lists rotate every six years. When a storm causes enough memorable death and destruction, the name is retired. In total, 96 names have now been retired from the Atlantic basin list since 1953, when storms began to be named under the current system.
Fiona and Ian will be replaced on the lists with Farrah and Idris.
Hurricane Ian was one of the costliest storms to ever hit the U.S., with nearly $70 billion in insured losses from Florida to the Carolinas. Among the most memorable images was the damage to the shrimp boat Shayna Michelle, which washed ashore in Myrtle Beach.
Hurricane Fiona slammed into the coast of Puerto Rico as a Category 1 hurricane near Punta Tocon in September.
The Atlantic hurricane season storm names in 2023 are:
- Arlene
- Bret
- Cindy
- Don
- Emily
- Franklin
- Gert
- Harold
- Idalia
- Jose
- Katia
- Lee
- Margot
- Nigel
- Ophelia
- Philippe
- Rina
- Sean
- Tammy
- Vince
- Whitney
If there are more than 21 named storms, the WMO switches over to a supplemental list.
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