Here are the 2019 hurricane, tropical storm names:
Andrea
Barry
Chantal
Erin
Fernand
Gabrielle
Humberto
Imelda
Jerry
Karen
Lorenzo
Melissa
Nestor
Olga
Pablo
Rebekah
Sebastian
Tanya
Van
Wendy
Some history behind hurricane names:
- Before the 1950s, meteorologists referred to hurricanes and tropical storms in the order they happened, such as "the fifth tropical storm" or "storm 5."
- During the 1950s, they realized it would be easier to keep track of storms by naming them. Until 1979, all of the names were female.
- The World Meteorological Organization comes up with the names each year. They use six sets of alphabetical lists, alternating between male and female names. The letters Q, U, X, Y and Z aren't used.
- If there are more than 21 storms in a year (heaven forbid!), they use the Greek alphabet.
- Names for the worst storms, like Harvey, Maria and Katrina, are retired.
