Retirement of Hurricanes

[Hurricanehink]

How come some hurricanes, like Hurricane Klaus in 1990, were retired, while others, like Hurricane Juan in 1985, weren't? Klaus caused very little damage, but they retired it. Juan caused billions of dollars, yet they used it again. What is the criteria of retiring hurricanes, because I think that Klaus should have been used in 1996, not Kyle.

[Anonymous]

Honestly I don't know the criteria. I know if a storm kills 8 people and does damage it is a good canidate for retirement. Lili killed 8 and did 900,000 in damage in the US, and Gordon in 1994 killed at least 1,122 and was not retired like Lili was. I think there is good chanece Isabel and Fabian will get retired. Juan has a better chance than Claudette. One reason why Lili was retired was that it had some of the strongest winds ever recorded in the Gulf of Mexico, 211 MPH at flight-level. Also how the intensity went from 145 mph and down 60 mph to 85 mph is stunning given the fact that dry air did not erase the circulation like Ethel in 1960,, which went from 160 mph to 80 mph in less than 12 hours.

[caneflyer]

Fabian, Isabel, and Juan will be retired from this year's list. Requests to retire names are made by the affected countries, and new names are selected at a meeting of the World Meteorological Organization Region IV (North Atlantic) member countries. Each country may have their own standards for requesting a name be retired, and these standards may vary over the years, so don't expect consistency in the criteria!