Too Wicked to Return
Published on April 24th, 2018
The World Meteorological Society has retired the names Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Nate from being used to name Atlantic Hurricanes in the future.
Typically storm names will be reused every six years, but if the storm was so deadly or destructive that the future use of the name would be insensitive, then the name is retired. The names Harold, Idalia, Margot, and Nigel will appear on the 2023 list of Atlantic Hurricane names instead.
Hurricane Harvey made landfall over Texas as a Category 4 hurricane in late August. The storm broke the record for highest rainfall total from a US Tropical Cyclone after 60.58 inches of rain was recorded near Nederland, TX. Harvey is the second costliest storm in US history, second only to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. At least 68 deaths have been directly attributed to the storm.
In September Hurricane Irma swept across the northern islands of the Caribbean before making US landfall over the Florida Keys as a Category 4 storm. 7 direct deaths and 85 indirect deaths occurred in the US due to Irma.
Also in September, Hurricane Maria made landfall over Cuba as a Category 5 hurricane then made another landfall over Puerto Rico as a Category 4. Maria is the third costliest Hurricane in US history. Maria caused 33 direct deaths outside of the US and another 65 deaths in Puerto Rico. The number of indirect deaths due to Maria is not currently known.
Finally Hurricane Nate made landfall in October. Nate was at its most destructive over Central America, causing 45 direct deaths. The storm made landfall on the Mississippi Gulf coast as a Category 1 hurricane, with no direct deaths caused in the US (2 indirect deaths were reported due to a traffic accident).
Here are the names for the 2018 Atlantic hurricane season on June 1-Nov. 30:
Alberto, Beryl, Chris, Debby, Ernesto, Florence, Gordon, Helene, Isaac, Joyce, Kirk, Leslie, Michael, Nadine, Oscar, Patty, Rafael, Sara, Tony, Valerie, William.
Source: kagstv.com, whnt.com