Constable: Record-tying season puts new spin on hurricane name game
In lamenting the lack of diversity in hurricane names, our Suburban Mosaic columnist Madhu Krishnamurthy suggested I write a column on the subject. We've had a record-tying hurricane season (the most since 1916) that caused the United Nations World Meteorological Organization to run out of names and start using the Greek alphabet.
As often happens with good ideas that come my way, "Daily Show" host Trevor Noah beat me to the punch. Noah notes some Americans dismiss the real terror of climate change and instead waste their fear on non-scary things, such as a Muslim family moving into the neighborhood.
"Maybe we just need to use that irrational fear to make them take climate change seriously. Instead of naming them Hurricane Sally or Hurricane Diane, they should call it Hurricane Abdul-Bashir Jala-ludeen Bakhari," Noah says. "In 12 hours, America will be all vegan, and everyone in NASCAR will drive a Prius."
That's something to consider - but not until the 2021 meeting (43rd session) of the WMO Regional Association IV Hurricane Committee. This group meets once every year, although they did so in a video conference on March 31 for the 2020 meeting because of COVID-19. But the group, which includes members from North America, Central America and the Caribbean, already has everything set in stone.
The committee sets hurricane names for a six-year period, and then repeats the list barring something unusual. Next year's hurricanes will use the 2015 list, and this year's hurricane names will be recycled in 2026. The committee only uses English, French and Spanish names to reflect the geography, and tries to maintain a gender-balanced list and be respectful of societal sensitivities. On occasion, they expand the boundaries, such as using the Spanish form of the biblical name Isaiah to give us Hurricane Isasias.
Because it can be tricky to think of hurricane names starting with Q, U, X, Y and Z, the committee only uses 21 letters of the alphabet. This is not a problem for the committee that names cyclones in the southwest Indian Ocean. Their list spans the entire 26-letter English alphabet starting with Alicia and Bongoyo, and ending with Yarona and Zacarias.
Just as the Chicago Cubs have retired the numbers of Ernie Banks, Billy Williams, Ron Santo, Ryne Sandberg, Fergie Jenkins, Greg Maddux and Jackie Robinson, the hurricane committee retires the names of storms that cause enough death and destruction to become immortal. In 2005, the only other time there were so many hurricanes that the committee stooped to using the Greek alphabet, Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan and Wilma were all retired.
This year has been so freaky, the National Weather Service discovered the return of a storm from early September and tweeted, "Because 2020, we now have Zombie Tropical Storms. Welcome back to the land of the living, Tropical Storm #Paulette."
By the start of the 20th Century, storms were named arbitrarily, according to the WMO's website. When an Atlantic storm ripped the mast from a boat named Antje, they called the hurricane Antje. Becoming an official group in 1950, the members decided in 1953 to name all hurricanes after women.
Possibly based in the misogynistic stereotypes or to get back at old girlfriends, the idea of sticking all hurricanes with female names was abolished in 1979, when Hurricane Bob made his debut. Hurricane Bob in 1991 was so destructive, the committee made Bob one of the 89 retired names so far.
No matter how harmless or gentle the names seem, all hurricanes can be deadly. Hurricane Grace in 1991 never made its way to the U.S. mainland, but it did play a part in forming the nor'easter that led to the book and movie titled, "The Perfect Storm."
Storms are never named after an actual person. But perhaps the hurricane committee should dole out names to the highest bidder to raise money to combat climate change. Would a billionaire shell out a million dollars to name a hurricane after the woman who turned down his advances? Maybe Coke would throw money at the committee just for the chance to name Hurricane Pepsi, and see headlines such as "Pepsi spews death and destruction."
Political groups clearly have the money to spend on such an endeavor. Then, the Florida vote could hinge on whether Hurricane Donald or Hurricane Joe causes the most damage.
Some people just want to see their name in a headline no matter the reason. But I speak for a pair of Daily Herald columnists in noting with joy that there's never been a Hurricane Burt or Hurricane Madhu.