Tag: hurricane

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Zeta (and Epsilon)

Amazing what happens when you’re paying attention to your own weather: “Tropical Storm Zeta Forms in Atlantic.”

OK, this storm will just be a footnote, since it is forecast to blow itself out in just a couple of days. But Zeta gets notice as the 27th Atlantic/Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico tropical cyclone this year. The AP story I link to above also conveys news that somehow evaded my very keenly tuned radar (either that, or I slept through it): the passage of Hurricane Epsilon earlier this month. Hi, Epsilon; bye, Epsilon.

For hurricane trivia junkies, Zeta is not the latest tropical cyclone on record. The National Hurricane Center says that distinction belongs to 1954’s Hurricane Alice II — yes, there were two hurricanes Alice that year — which spun up in the Atlantic on New Year’s Eve.

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The Historical Hurricane

Two new storms — Philippe and Rita — have come to life. Next on the list would be Stan. Stan, the casual hurricane. Of course, there’s not much in these storm names. The relaxed-sounding Mitch (1998) spawned a disaster in Central America that in many ways dwarfs the impact of Hurricane Katrina.

There’s all sorts of documentation about who chooses the names and what the names are. The basic principles in naming are first to create a universal reference for forecasters and other officials and second to personify the storm in a way that makes the phenomenon concrete for the public. However, I haven’t come across any explanation of how the actual names are picked — how Mitch or Stan make it, for instance, and Mikhail and Shlomo don’t. Mostly it’s the desire to keep the names short and sweet and familiar.

But do you want a storm to sound friendly? I mean, Katrina had previous connotations for me that made it easy to imagine the storm as an awesome and potentially destructive force of nature. But Stan? What does that bring to mind? Stan Laurel. He might get you into trouble with the wife, but how much real damage could he do?

Which is why I’ve always (privately, until now) advocated a system that uses names of particularly destructive people — anyone from big-league despots down to well-known criminals. Hurricane Stalin. Hurricane Huberty. That way, you could convey the potential menace of tropical cyclones and deliver a history lesson at the same time.

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