You know the song: “99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer, Take one down, pass it around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall”.....well, we are now 99 days away from the start of the Atlantic hurricane season! Pardon the alcohol reference, but today IS National Margarita Day, so there is that salty recognition.
After a quiet 2022 season for us, despite Hurricane Ian in Florida, we now have a new list of names. Well, somewhat new. There are six lists of names for Atlantic hurricanes which are rotated every six years, so you may see names from 2017 that are familiar, while other names were retired. Storm names are only retired when they are memorable enough for having caused catastrophic damage and/or fatalities. Here’s the list -- see if you can guess the former names of the four storms whose names were dropped. I’m sure you’ll get at least one:
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I’ll give you the answers, but first here is a storm name you probably haven’t heard: FREDDY.
Tropical Cyclone Freddy is this year’s first Category 5 hurricane (161 mph) for the Southern Hemisphere, that other part of the globe south of the equator. Freddy tracked all the way across the Indian Ocean which is impressive enough and struck Madagascar yesterday. Here is a graphic from Exact Track Radar from Monday followed by yesterday as the hurricane approached the island:
What’s left of Freddy is now headed to Africa. This has been a devastating storm for Madagascar and other islands in the Indian Ocean. You can catch up with their preparations beforehand, information on the storm and what they are dealing with now through their Facebook page right here. Much of the page is in English and the pictures and the videos are, of course, universal.
Keep in mind that half the last decade actually saw storms form in May! Here below are those four storm names that were retired from 2017. A good school project would be to research those storms and find out WHY their names were retired!
Bottom line, we’re always tracking the tropics around the world and always watching the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season. It will be here faster than you think!
Are you ready, Freddy?
Frank
Email me with questions, comments and ideas!