All those names are names which were given to Atlantic hurricanes that were subsequently ‘retired’ due having caused significant damage, destruction or impact on people’s lives or their livelihoods. From Carol in 1954, when the ‘retirement’ system started to Otto in 2016.
My esteemed colleague and meteorologist, Chris Bell, posed a bonus question about what was unique about ‘Allison’ (2001). My guess is that it was the only storm in the list which did not become meterologically strong enough to be a hurricane (it remained a tropical storm), but caused enough destruction on the mainland USA to have it’s name retired. (Am I right, Chris? Erika in 2015 also only got to a tropical storm but never hit the USA).
Of course with this bit of fun I am referring to the current three active hurricanes in the Atlantic, Hurricanes Katia, Irma and Jose. It is almost certain that Irma will have its name retired and without a doubt so will Harvey that recently hit Houston, Texas.
Hurricane Harvey. Image credit: Daily Mail
