For every year, there is a pre-approved list of tropical storm and hurricane names. These lists have been generated by the National Hurricane Center since 1953. Originally, the lists contained only female names, but since 1979 the lists alternate between male and female. Hurricanes are named alphabetically from the list in chronological order. The lists contain hurricane names that begin from A to W, but exclude names that begin with a “Q” or “U.”There are six lists that continue to rotate. The lists only change when there is a hurricane that is so devastating that the name is retired or another hurricane name replaces it. The 2017 hurricane name list is almost the same as the 2011 hurricane name list. Since Hurricane Irene was a large and destructive storm, the name was retired from the list and Ima took its place.

2017 Hurricane Names

Arlene
Bret
Cindy
Don
Emily
Franklin
Gert
Harvey
Ima
Jose
Katia
Lee
Maria
Nate
Ophelia
Philippe
Rina
Sean
Tammy
Vince
Whitney

Visit our Disaster Preparedness page for tips to follow to prepare for natural disasters such as hurricanes and tropical storms.