Which famous system used every year and introduced, in its current form, in 1979 is coming close to having to use the Greek alphabet for the first time?

cntrygrl85

naming hurricanes Oct 19 05, 8:21 PM

peasypod

And here's an interesting link: http://www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/050919_hurricane_names.html Oct 19 05, 8:36 PM

JoshCaleb12

This season, which runs through November 30 has produced so many hurricanes, that they've already got "Wilma" out there in the Caribbean... and W is the last letter of the hurricane alphabet... This is indeed the first time in history that the switch to the Greek alphabet has been necessary... http://www.news24.com/News24/World/Hurricane/0,,2-10-1942_1818547,00.html Oct 19 05, 10:46 PM

gmackematix

The "Yay" must go to Cntrygrl there, but thanks Peasy and Josh for the links. Does anyone else imagine Fred Flintstone looking out to sea and calling back "WILMA!!" when they heard of this latest storm? Oct 19 05, 11:46 PM

lanfranco

That did occur to me. A couple of days ago, the weather columnist for our local paper received a query about whether "Alpha" would be retired as a name should it prove to be a particularly devastating storm. (We'll never see another Katrina, Camille, or Andrew.) The answer from the National Hurricane Center was yes. Oct 20 05, 9:49 AM

cntrygrl85

Let's hope they don't have to start using the Greek alphabet. Oct 20 05, 11:40 AM

Priscilla9

There's a hurricane alphabet? I feel like I have been living under a rock... Oct 20 05, 6:45 PM

gmackematix

The system isn't just for naming hurricanes. I had better clear up that the names are given to all powerful tropical storms, only a fraction of which become actual hurricanes. I can now announce that we have had Tropical Storm Alpha, which was followed by Hurricane Beta. Nov 05 05, 11:18 PM