Forecasters Run Out of Names and Goes Greek for 2020 Hurricane Season
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Forecasters ran out of the traditional hurricane names like Arthur and Laura and have resorted to the Greek alphabet for the remainder of the hurricane season.
So expect to hear names like Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon.
The busy 2020 hurricane season has used all of the names in the English alphabet.
Just Friday, meteorologists said three hurricanes formed, bringing to end the traditional names. The three new storms are the last traditional name Wilma, and the new Greek names–Alpha and Beta.
Is this the first time forecasters have used the Greek Alphabet?
No, it has happened in 2005. This is only the second time this has happened.
The quick tropical storm formations on Friday prompted forecasters to tweet “get out the Greek alphabet.”
“It’s crazy,” said University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy to AP. “This is just off the charts. We’ve made a joke of breaking records.”
Forecasters said the 2020 hurricane season’s first two Greek storms Alpha and Beta formed more than a month earlier than the 2005 hurricane season. Tropical Storm Alpha developed on Oct. 22, 2005 and Hurricane Beta first became a tropical storm on Oct. 27, 2005.
The 2005 hurricane season used only six Greek alphabet names. The last storm of that season, Zeta, did not dissipate until early January 2006. Beta and Epsilon became hurricanes.
