Did Your Name Make the List for Upcoming 2021 Hurricane Season? (5/21/21 USA Today)

With the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season upon us, now is a good time to review the list of names that will be used throughout the six-month season.

Hurricane season officially begins June 1, and federal forecasters have predicted an “above-average” season, with as many as 20 named storms forming. Of those 20, as many as 10 are forecast to be hurricanes. (An average season has 14 named storms, of which 7 are hurricanes.)

A tropical storm gets a name when its sustained winds reach 39 mph; it becomes a hurricane when its winds reach 74 mph.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), based in Geneva, Switzerland, chooses hurricane names several years in advance, based on a strict criteria. If a hurricane is particularly deadly or costly, then its name is “retired” by the WMO and replaced by another one.

Here is the list of names for the 2021 season:

• Ana
• Bill
• Claudette
• Danny
• Elsa
• Fred
• Grace
• Henri
• Ida
• Julian
• Kate
• Larry
• Mindy
• Nicholas
• Odette
• Peter
• Rose
• Sam
• Teresa
• Victor
• Wanda