Soon ship, and aircraft radios started using voice communication instead of Morse code. In 1951 American meteorologists started using the international phonetic alphabet for radios: Able, Baker, Charlie, Dog, etc. In the beginning of 1953 a new international alphabet was introduced: Alpha, Bravo, Cocoa, Delta, etc. This became confusing because one operator would report ?Hurricane Baker? and another would report ?Hurricane Bravo?. This became a nuisance because it was unclear if these were two different hurricanes, or the same hurricane. Near the end of 1953 meteorologists started using women’s names instead.
Naming hurricanes was not a new concept. For many years people in the West Indies had named hurricanes after the saint on who?s day they struck. One example of this was a storm that swept across Puerto Rico on July 26, 1825, was known as Santa Ana. Personal names were also used in other locations such as Canada. Some meteorologist have been giving hurricanes women?s names since the late nineteenth century.
Women?s names were used until 1978 when lists in the Eastern Pacific used Men?s names. This method still remains. The names alternate between men, and women, for example Andrew, Bonnie, Charley, Danielle, etc. In 1979, these lists also started to include names from non-english-speaking-cultures. Since these names were used instead of the phonetic alphabet they were put in alphabetical order, for example in 1995 the first Atlantic Hurricane was called Allison, then Barry, and so on. Since Hurricanes, and Pacific typhoons use the same method to choose their names six different lists where created. These lists were recycled every six years, So in 1990 one list was used and six years later in 1996.
Some names have been retired because their hurricanes have caused such devastating destruction. They did this so that people would not get confused between hurricanes. For example if Hurricane Bonnie killed many people in 2001 and did again in 2010 then people might be confused between which hurricane it is. the names that have been retired are, Agnes (1972), Andrew (1992), Camille (1969), Gilbert (1988), and Hugo (1989).
Glossary
Equatoral trough- The band of low atmospheric pressure where the trade winds from both hemispheres converge.
Super cooled water- water that is colder than 32 degrees F but is liquid, not ice.
High level temperature inversion- A layer of high level air trapping the air below it.
Anticyclone- an area of high atmospheric pressure.
Cyclone circulation- the event in air circulates around high and low pressure areas
Cyclones- The name for hurricanes in the Bay of Bengal
Typhoons- The name for hurricanes in the Pacific Ocean.
Baguios- The name for hurricanes near Indonesia.
Willy-Nillies- The name for hurricanes in Australia.
Coriolis effect-The effect that causes hurricanes to rotate. Same effect that makes toilets rotate.
Storm Surges- Giant waves sometimes caused by hurricanes.
Kamikaze- The name given to a hurricane by the Japanese. Means divine wind.
Thermodynamics- The study of the conservation of energy.
Meteorologists- People who study hurricanes.
Adiabatically- 1. occurring without loss or gain of heat 2. of or having to do with a change of volume of a gas during which no heat enters or leaves it.
Bibliography
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“hurricanes,” Encyclopedia Britanica, 1970, Volume 11, all.
Allaby, Michael. Hurricanes. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 1997.
Chaston, Peter. Hurricanes. Missouri: Chaston Scientific, Inc., 1996.
“Latent heat provides fuel for storms.” USA Today, www.usatoday.com. April 2, 1998.
Wayne M. Wendland. “HURRICANE,” The World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia, Version 1.0, IBM/World Book, Inc., 1998.