Historical Linguistics 3130 A

Just for fun: All about hurricane names

When an Atlantic tropical cyclone reaches winds of 39 miles per hour, it changes from a "tropical depression" to a "tropical storm" and gets a name. When it reaches 74 mph, it is called a hurricane. Even though the calendar says the hurricane season ends November 30, Tropical Storm Epsilon was upgraded at 11 a.m. today to Hurricane Epsilon with winds currently at 120 km/h. Luckily it's nowhere near land and is currently heading towards the mid-Atlantic.

For information on hurricane names (which is the linguistic connection), check out the Frequently Asked Questions on tropical cyclone names at the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Labroratory site.

There is also a more extensive history of naming Atlantic hurricanes on the main U.S. National Hurricane Center site.

You might also be interested in what's causing the current very active hurricane cycle. It has nothing to do with historical linguistics, but it's interesting, I think.