The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season is underway, which means a new list of named storms will be active.
The list features 21 names that go down in alphabetical order. The letters Q, U, X, Y and Z are skipped.
The List
In 2023, the first named storm will be Arlene.
After Arlene, the names Bert, Cindy and Don will be used.
If 21 storms form this year, the last name on the list is Whitney.
If the list is exhausted, an auxiliary list will be used to name further systems. In the past, the Greek alphabet was the auxiliary list. This was discontinued after the record-setting 2020 season.
How the list is created
Many do not know this, but storm names repeat themselves every 6 years.
The last time the 2023 list was used was in 2017.
2017 was a very active year, with 17 named storms, 10 hurricanes and six major hurricanes.
That year included devastating storms like Harvey in Texas and Maria in Puerto Rico.
It was an impactful year for Southeast Georgia and Northeast Florida, as Hurricane Irma severely impacted much of the area.
In 2017, the names Harvey, Irma, Maria and Nate were retired from the master list.
They have been replaced in 2023 with Harold, Idalia, Margot and Nigel.
The Weather Authority will be tracking every single system for the duration of the 2023 hurricane season.