Comments on: Hurricane Beta

Hurricane Beta

grapefruitmoon — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 11:58:35 -0800

Hurricane Beta Coming Soon... Ever wondered how hurricanes are named? Here's a good explanation.

By: mendel

mendel — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 13:21:11 -0800

See also Wikipedia's articles on the list of names for tropical storms around the world, and a list of notable tropical cyclones which includes those who were big and recent enough to get their name retired from the current lists, plus links to individual articles about many of them. This article talks about about the transition from the pre-1976 naming scheme to the current rotation. We won't find out until next spring which storms were big enough to get their names retired this year, but since one of the retired ones killed as few as 4, I've got my hunch.

By: thanotopsis

thanotopsis — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 13:22:00 -0800

I think it was Family Guy last weekend that had a quote from the newscaster: "As Hurricaine Ru-Paul moves him or herself up the coast..."

By: gren

gren — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 13:23:26 -0800

Thankfully they wont be inducting 'Nico' into the list anytime soon...it would really suck to be named Katrina right now...

By: Artw

Artw — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 13:23:47 -0800

Interesting BBC News peice on whether or not Global Warming is responsible.

By: hal9k

hal9k — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 13:26:02 -0800

Hurricane Scorpions*, anyone? (*give it a minute...)

By: Johnny Assay

Johnny Assay — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 13:48:04 -0800

Hurricane Scorpions*, anyone? Feh. I'm more amused by the eerily prescient name of a certain '80s band best known for "Walkin' on Sunshine."

By: fenriq

fenriq — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 13:53:10 -0800

How about Hurricane Asshat? Hurricane Buck Fush? Hurricane Condi's New Shoes? Hurricane Turd Blossom? Hurricane Hurricane Hurricane? I'd be more than happy to help provide some additional names. Just send me a check for $20 million and I'll get you all the names you need for the next fifty years. Who wouldn't run screaming from Hurricane Cheney? I'd think the evacuations would start the instant that hurricane was named.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 13:58:24 -0800

Hurricanes should all have stripper names.

By: TwelveTwo

TwelveTwo — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 13:58:54 -0800

We should name them in a boring alphanumeric filing method. Hurricane A98-EK22C pummels the Florida coast line!

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 14:00:18 -0800

Run. Here comes Hurricane Mistee Mountains.

By: ToasT

ToasT — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 14:24:54 -0800

Hurricane Beta is now available - click to download. Please note that technical support is not available for beta version products.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 14:25:28 -0800

I think we should switch to verb names. I recommend Hurricanes Attack, Bash, Clober, Damage, Ebb, Flaten, Grab, Harm, Impale, Jostle, Languish, Murder, Nominate, Offend, Punch, Quarter, Ravish, Stomp, Torture, Undertake, Vanish, Warplan, Xtinguish, and Zap, to start with.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 14:27:30 -0800

Oh, and how about Hurricane Typhoon?

By: TwelveTwo

TwelveTwo — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 14:31:58 -0800

How about we just use last names instead of first names?

By: PurplePorpoise

PurplePorpoise — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 14:40:39 -0800

If Katrina is going to get retired, I propose that designation be changed to Hurricane Kittens.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 15:09:04 -0800

it would really suck to be named Katrina right now Katrinas agree. A spokesman from the World Meteorological Organization in Geneva, which issues names of hurricanes based on an alphabetical list that rotates annually and repeats every six years, did not respond to messages, but Stu Ostro, a senior meteorologist at The Weather Channel, said the world body was unlikely to change the system, which started in 1953. Experts had found that just giving storms numbers or locations was confusing. "The goal is to give valuable information clearly that can help save lives," Ostro said. "Maybe that's some solace the people named Camille or Katrina or Charley or Ivan can take." See, I figure they're getting away with it by choosing names around 400th in popularity. Now if only they'd get a Jacob or Emily up there, we'd have a lobby .... Snark. There actually was an Emily this year.

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 17:15:40 -0800

I'm not the first to say it, but was global warming responsible in 1933 as well? There seem like there were a lot of big hurricanes in the first half of the 1930s. (Too lazy to rtfa on the Beeb)

By: deborah

deborah — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 18:37:21 -0800

I have a niece named Katrina. She's not amused.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 22:39:35 -0800

Actualy, they should give hurricanes "Mean" names, I mean, who'd be afraid of a hurricane named "Katrina"? But Hurricane Kill or Hurricane Rage? People would get the fuck out of the way. Perhaps they could compromise and give the storms last names if they get retireable. For example, Katrina could become Katrina Kill, and Rita Rita Rage.

By: watsondog

watsondog — Sat, 24 Sep 2005 18:59:48 -0800

delmoi, not Rita Repulsa?

By: smackfu

smackfu — Sat, 22 Oct 2005 20:06:17 -0800

Hello Tropical Storm ALPHA.