Did you know that hurricane season lasts until Nov. 30 in Virginia? That means from now until then, we’re likely to hear a variety names placed on the storms—but where do the titles come from?
The short answer is that the World Meteorological Organization maintains the names, but the National Hurricane Center originated the name lists in 1953. Tropical storms are pulled from the same list.
Atlantic hurricane names are picked from one of six alphabetical lists, which are rotated through every six years. Hurricanes were solely names after women until 1979.
Names are retired if a storm is considered exceptionally deadly or destructive. Some retired names include Katrina, Harvey, and Ida.
