Why are hurricanes called by female names? History, interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:42

The elements of nature are not subject to human control. And when disturbing messages come from one or another part of the globe about a tornado, typhoon, hurricane, and we hear beautiful names that have nothing to do with the nature of the origin of a natural disaster. Have you ever wondered why hurricanes are called by female names? There is a rationale for this tradition, which we are about to discover today.

Random naming of hurricanes

In order to avoid informative confusion about hurricanes (which can occur simultaneously in different parts of the planet), it was customary to call them not a serial number hurricane 544, hurricane 545 and so on, but they were called names.

The earliest names came from the location of the disaster, or from the specific dates or events when it happened. For example, in July 1825, for the first time, they started talking about the hurricane SantaAnna , which was named after a saint in Puerto Rico. It was on the day when the raging anticyclone broke out that the saint was honored in the city, it was her holiday, her calendar day.

The hurricane was dubbed a female name. Do you think that it was then that the countdown began with this particular coordinate system? Since that time period, there has been a tradition of arbitrarily naming tornadoes, typhoons and hurricanes, without a clear system or belonging to anything.

Interesting facts about typhoon naming

An interesting fact in the name of the element: at that time there was a hurricane, which very much resembled a pin in its shape. This is where his name came from. Thus, several similar pin disasters got their name, with serial numbers assigned in addition.

Another interesting method developed by an Australian meteorologist: he named hurricanes after politicians who voted against funding for meteorological research.

There is a peculiarity in the nature of the manifestations of these natural disasters. To be more precise: they have their own pattern. Most often, tropical typhoons occur in the autumn, when there is a difference in temperature between water and air. And also in summer, when the ocean temperature is the highest. In winter and spring, they almost do not form, or are extremely rare.

Why are hurricanes in America called by female names?

Perhaps here lies the first naming systemtyphoons with beautiful names belonging to the beautiful half of humanity. Military personnel in the United States who served in meteorological units took it as a tradition to name the elements beyond their control by the names of their spouses and their female relatives. During this period, a list was first compiled of names that were assigned to tornadoes in alphabetical order. Names with easy-to-remember pronunciation were chosen. When the list ended, it started again.

Such a simple story as to why hurricanes are given female names. It formed the basis of the new system, which began to be used not only in the United States, but also in many other countries.

The advent of tornado naming

Everyone knows that the continents of North and South America suffer more than the rest of the world from floods, typhoons and tornadoes. There are even more than a dozen American films dedicated to this natural phenomenon.

Since 1953, thanks to the idea of American employees, there has been a procedure for naming the elements beyond the control. Remembering their women, perhaps in their honor or as a joke, but, nevertheless, this was the reason why hurricanes are given female names. The list, which was made up of 84 names, was used throughout the year in full. After all, about 120 air cyclones form on our planet every year.

The first month of the year corresponds to the names starting with the first letter of the alphabet, the second - the second and so on. 1979 marked a new stage in the tornado naming system. The list of female names wascomplemented by men. It is worth noting that several tropical storms can form in one water basin at once, which means that there will also be several names. For example, for the Atlantic Ocean there are 6 alphabetical lists, each of which contains twenty-one names. If it so happens that in the current year there will be more than twenty-one hurricanes, then the subsequent names of the elements will go according to the Greek alphabet (Alpha, Beta, Delta, etc.).

When are male names used?

As we have already found out, several tornadoes can form simultaneously in one section of the water basin.

But why do hurricanes have female and male names? After all, it would seem that everything is simple - just add other simple but sonorous names of the fair sex to the list. The fact is that the lists are formed by the Hurricane Committee of the Regional Association, which came to the conclusion that gender is not ethical for naming hurricanes. Therefore, since 1979, not only female, but also male names have become part of the list of future hurricanes.

Eastern commitment to name-calling

The Japanese don't understand why hurricanes are called female names. According to them, a woman is a delicate and fragile creature. And by nature, they are not able to bear catastrophic disasters. Therefore, tornadoes that occur in the northern or western Pacific Ocean will never be called by the names of people. Despite the tradition of naming storms, they have the names of inanimateitems: plants, trees, products, there are also names of animals.

Who forms the names of tornadoes?

As noted earlier, when forming a list of future tornadoes, attention is paid to simple and sonorous names. This criterion is important. Since when exchanging information about a storm between stations, naval bases in bad weather conditions, cumbersome and complex names are inappropriate. In addition, in written and oral speech, easy-to-pronounce words are less prone to errors and confusion. After all, several tornadoes can occur simultaneously, moving in different directions along the same coast.

This is why hurricanes are called simple and easy to pronounce female names.

There is a World Meteorological Organization that is responsible for naming tornadoes, typhoons, tornadoes, hurricanes and tropical storms. They have been using the established system since 1953. Using names from previous lists that were not previously used, new lists are formed for each year. For example, names that were not used in 2005 go to 2011, and the rest from 2011 to 2017. Thus, lists of future typhoons are formed for every 6 years ahead.

For 2017, a new list has been formed, consisting of 6 lists of hurricane names that await our planet. This list is planned until 2022. Each list starts with the letter A and goes up alphabetically. Each list contains twenty-one names.

The future names of storms cannot be names starting with Q, U, X, Y, Z. Since there are few of them and they are difficult to hear.

However, some tornadoes are so destructive in their strength that his name is excluded from the list once and for all. An example is Hurricane Katrina, which swept across the southeastern shores of North America and the Caribbean. This is the most destructive typhoon in the history of the United States, the consequences of which were simply catastrophic. And this is the case when the name was excluded from the list of hurricane names. So that memories of the elements would not be painful when the turn comes to this designation again.

The opinion of ordinary people about the names of tornadoes

Not everyone knows why hurricanes are called female names. There is an anecdote on this topic literally in one line. The answer is immediately clear: “Hurricanes are called female names because they are just as violent. And when they leave, they take your house, car, and everything you have left with them.”