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How hurricanes get their names
Discover the surprising, dramatic, and highly organized history behind how we name the world's most powerful storms.
4 chapters76 assets
by gracie · Jul 18, 2026
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Chapter 1
From saints to coordinates
1The era of naming storms after saints
2The confusing math of latitude and longitude
3Clement Wragge and his political revenge
4Using military phonetics in wartime storms
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Chapter 2
The era of female names
1How a popular novel changed weather history
2The official debut of all-female lists
3Roxcy Bolton and the fight for equality
4The historic introduction of male names
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Chapter 3
The modern naming system
1The global rules of the United Nations
2Why five letters are completely skipped
3Flowers and animals of the Western Pacific
4The cooperative lists of the Indian Ocean
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Chapter 4
Retiring the worst storms
1The strict criteria for retiring a name
2The mysterious curse of the letter I
3Retiring the confusing Greek alphabet
4How replacement names are carefully chosen
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