Beryl, Helene and Milton Retired From Atlantic Hurricane Names List

MIAMI, Florida – The World Meteorological Organization Hurricane Committee has retired the names Beryl, Helene, and Milton from its Atlantic basin name list and John from the eastern Pacific basin name list because of the death and destruction these storms caused in 2024.

The WMO has replaced Beryl with Brianna, Helene with Holly, Milton with Miguel, and John with Jake from the Atlantic and eastern Pacific basin name lists.

How Are Hurricanes Named?

During World War II, the practice of naming storms became widespread in weather map discussions among forecasters, especially Army and Navy meteorologists who plotted the movements of storms over the wide expanses of the Pacific Ocean.

In 1953, the United States abandoned a confusing two-year-old plan to name storms by a phonetic alphabet (Able, Baker, Charlie) when a new, international phonetic alphabet was introduced. That year, the United States began using female names for storms.

The practice of naming hurricanes solely after women came to an end in 1978 when men’s and women’s names were included in the Eastern North Pacific storm lists.

In 1979, male and female names were included in lists for the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico where two male names were only used once and then retired, David and Frederic.

The hurricane names lists originated from NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, but are now maintained and updated through a strict procedure by an international committee of the World Meteorological Organization.

The Six-Year Rotation Cycle

The Atlantic storm names are organized into six lists, each corresponding to a specific year. These lists are reused every six years, meaning the names assigned for 2024 will reappear in 2030, and those for 2025 will return in 2031. Below are the lists for the years 2024 through 2029:

• 2024: Alberto, Beryl, Chris, Debby, Ernesto, Francine, Gordon, Helene, Isaac, Joyce, Kirk, Leslie, Milton, Nadine, Oscar, Patty, Rafael, Sara, Tony, Valerie, William
• 2025: Andrea, Barry, Chantal, Dexter, Erin, Fernand, Gabrielle, Humberto, Imelda, Jerry, Karen, Lorenzo, Melissa, Nestor, Olga, Pablo, Rebekah, Sebastien, Tanya, Van, Wendy
• 2026: Arthur, Bertha, Cristobal, Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gonzalo, Hanna, Isaias, Josephine, Kyle, Leah, Marco, Nana, Omar, Paulette, Rene, Sally, Teddy, Vicky, Wilfred
• 2027: Ana, Bill, Claudette, Danny, Elsa, Fred, Grace, Henri, Imani, Julian, Kate, Larry, Mindy, Nicholas, Odette, Peter, Rose, Sam, Teresa, Victor, Wanda
• 2028: Alex, Bonnie, Colin, Danielle, Earl, Farrah, Gaston, Hermine, Idris, Julia, Karl, Lisa, Martin, Nicole, Owen, Paula, Richard, Shary, Tobias, Virginie, Walter
• 2029: Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Don, Emily, Franklin, Gert, Harold, Idalia, Jose, Katia, Lee, Margot, Nigel, Ophelia, Philippe, Rina, Sean, Tammy, Vince, Whitney

How the Naming System Works

The names within each list are assigned sequentially to tropical storms as they form during the Atlantic hurricane season, which officially runs from June 1 to November 30. If a storm develops outside this period, it takes the next available name based on the calendar date. For instance, a storm forming on December 28 would use a name from the prior year’s list, while one forming in February would draw from the upcoming year’s list.

Each list contains 21 names, covering the letters A through W (excluding Q, U, X, Y, and Z due to the scarcity of common names beginning with these letters). In the rare event that more than 21 named storms occur in a single season, the WMO has an alternate list of names ready to deploy.