These Are the 2019 Hurricane Names, From Andrea to Wendy
The 2019 Atlantic hurricane season, which includes the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico, is June 1 to November 30; the Eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 through November 30.
Long before these basins crank up with tropical waves, storms, and hurricanes, the National Hurricane Center establishes a list of storm names that will be assigned when a weather event is powerful enough to be named.
A tropical system gets its name when it maintains sustained wind speeds of 39 miles per hour, at which point it is officially a tropical storm. Many named systems never reach hurricane status, when winds reach 74 miles per hour.
Related: What Do the Hurricane Categories Really Mean?
Until the 1950s, tropical storms and hurricanes were tracked by the order in which they occured each year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Over time, it was learned that the use of short, easily remembered names in written as well as spoken communications is quicker and reduces confusion when two or more tropical storms occur at the same time. In the past, confusion and false rumors resulted when storm advisories broadcast from radio stations were mistaken for warnings concerning an entirely different storm located hundreds of miles away.”
Hurricane naming began in 1953, with only female names used until 1978. Male names were added in 1979.
Storm names are in alphabetical order, skipping Q, U, X, Y, and Z (in the Atlantic basin), and alternate between male and female names. There are six lists of 21 names, and each list is recycled every six years. (i.e., 2018’s names will be used again in 2024, 2019’s will be used again in 2025, and so on.)
Any storm names that were used for a particularly deadly or costly hurricane are retired and replaced. The names Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Nate were retired following the devastating 2017 season.
Atlantic Ocean Hurricane Names for the 2019 Season
These storm names were last used in 2013, which was a “quiet” hurricane season, with no major hurricanes.
Andrea
Barry
Chantal
Dorian
Erin
Fernand
Gabrielle
Humberto
Imelda
Jerry
Karen
Lorenzo
Melissa
Nestor
Olga
Pablo
Rebekah
Sebastien
Tanya
Van
Wendy
In the event more than 21 named storms form in the Atlantic Ocean, the National Hurricane Center says additional storms will be named from the Greek alphabet.
Eastern North Pacific Hurricane Names for the 2019 Season
Alvin
Barbara
Cosme
Dalila
Erick
Flossie
Gil
Henriette
Ivo
Juliette
Kiko
Lorena
Mario
Narda
Octave
Priscilla
Raymond
Sonia
Tico
Velma
Wallis
Xina
York
Zelda