A SIMPLE EXPLANATION OF HOW HURRICANES ARE NAMED

Hurricanes and other types of tropical storms have the potential to decimate enormous populations and do extensive damage to big areas of property. Although the National Hurricane Center is responsible for most of the hard job in the United States in terms of predicting and monitoring tropical cyclones, they are not accountable for the names that are given to these very destructive storms. Instead, the responsibility of naming tropical storms and hurricanes falls on the World Meteorological Organization. Tropical depressions are not given names until after they have strengthened and developed further in addition to satisfying a number of requirements. To put it more simply, in order for a storm to be classified as a tropical storm and be given a name, it has to have maximum wind speeds of at least 39 miles per hour around a closed center of circulation. When maximum winds surrounding a closed low reach at least 74 miles per hour or greater, the storm is then promoted to a hurricane. It is not unheard of for there to be more than one tropical storm in the Atlantic Ocean at the same time during hurricane season. The process of giving names to these strong systems helps to avoid misunderstanding and makes it easier to keep track of the path each storm is taking and its strength. Because of this, the World Meteorological Organization compiles a list of names in alphabetical order that may be used again after a gap of six years. However, the name of the storm is taken out of circulation after a storm that is especially devastating, such as Hurricane Katrina or Hurricane Andrew. The official website of Christina Loren may be found at: http://christinaloren.co/