Ciaran, Harvey, Irma, Carmen, Gabriel… Hurricanes and storms have male or female first names. Here’s how the two main organizations that name hurricanes globally choose them.
Who names storms and hurricanes?
This is for Europe Meteorological service of the Free University of Berlin names all anticyclones, depressions and hurricanes. These are the names the French media uses to describe the storms. This is, for example, the case of storm Cioran, which will hit the northwestern quarter of France on the night of September 1.well Until November 2.
For the rest of the worldworld meteorological organization (WMO) is authorized. On the other hand, the wind is only baptized when it exceeds 119 km/h and is accompanied by heavy rain. This organization delegates the task of choosing the name to five regional organizations.
Why give them first names?
The WMO states on its website that if we give hurricanes first names, it would first be “ Helps quickly identify storms in warning messages as names are much easier to remember than numbers or technical terms ”, as it may be in the past.
For the same purpose, WMO explains that preference should be given to: “ Familiar names in the region where the event will take place “. So for storms that will affect Japan, for example, Usagi, Koguma or Tokage are preferred. Australia will see Kate, Jack or Fletcher arrive instead.
How to choose first names?
WMO takes name selection very seriously and follows a strict procedure. Each of the five regional organizations charged with this mission creates a list of five names to be reused on a rotating basis, one for each letter of the alphabet.
For example, the first name used to identify a person is Cindy Tropical cyclone in June 2017, reused in 2023. The only reason a name would be removed from the list is if the storm was particularly destructive or deadly. “ It would be inappropriate to use the same name in the future », explains WMO on its website. So Katrina was removed from the list, as were Mitch, Sandy, and possibly Irma. The strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic.
“Pay attention to the name” ISIS » It was removed from the list in 2015. Originally coined in reference to the Egyptian goddess, the word has also become the English acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria… or, in French, the Islamic State organization.
The Free University of Berlin offers to buy a name thanks to the program Adopt a Vortexand this has been since 2002. an anticyclone costs 390 eurosThe cost of a depression that lasts shorter and is therefore less risky is 260 euros. A sum used to finance the meteorological institute of the Free University of Berlin.
The names of hurricanes were initially given arbitrarily, without strict rules. For example, Hurricane Antje of 1858 was named after a boat that destroyed its mast.
Male or female name?
Since 1950, WMO has used only female names when naming hurricanes. Since 1979 feminine and masculine names have been alternating in alphabetical order (as, for example, this year for Harvey, Irma, Jose and Katia).
The University of Berlin waited until 1998 to raise the issue. “ There was debate about whether it was discriminatory to give depressions, and therefore bad weather, after women. Where anticyclones that bring good weather have masculine names », Describes the University’s website. The practice was considered sexist, and male or female names have been given alternately from one year to the next ever since.
A change that doesn’t hinder gender stereotypes. a study A study conducted by the University of Illinois showed that hurricanes that hit the United States with female names caused more deaths than those with male names. This is not because of the event itself, but because hurricanes with female names are perceived as less dangerous than hurricanes with male names. So Alexander may look more threatening than Alexandra.
