Tropical Cyclone Naming
Presently, most tropical cyclones are given a name using one of several lists of tropical cyclone names. Storms of tropical storm strength are given names to allow the public to easily distinguish between systems when there are multiple systems in an individual basin at the same time. These names are taken from lists which vary from region to region and are drafted a few years ahead of time.In the North Atlantic and Northeastern Pacific basins, feminine and masculine names are alternated in alphabetic order during a given season. The gender of the season's first storm also alternates year to year. Six lists of names are prepared in advance, and each list is used once every six years. Names of storms may be retired by request of affected countries if they have caused extensive damage.