East Pacific Hurricane Season begins today.

[James]

Well, today marks the beginning of the E. Pacific hurricane season. The names for this year are:

Adrian
Beatriz
Calvin
Dora
Eugene
Fernanda
Greg
Hilary
Irwin
Jova
Kenneth
Lidia
Max
Norma
Otis
Pilar
Ramon
Selma
Todd
Veronica
Wiley
Xina
York
Zelda

It will be interesting to see if the first storm occurs in May again, as it has in every season since that of 2000. Waters are currently rather warm out there, and while nothing looks imminent now, we all know how quickly that can change.

[cycloneye]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

000
ABPZ20 KNHC 151051
TWOEP
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
4 AM PDT SUN MAY 15 2005

FOR THE EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC...EAST OF 140 DEGREES WEST LONGITUDE.

TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE 2005 EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC HURRICANE
SEASON...WHICH EXTENDS THROUGH NOVEMBER 30TH. LONG-TERM SEASONAL
AVERAGES FOR THE NUMBER OF NAMED STORMS AND HURRICANES ARE 15 AND
9...RESPECTIVELY.

HERE IS THE LIST OF NAMES FOR 2005 IS AS FOLLOWS:

NAME PRONUNCIATION NAME PRONUNCIATION
-------------------------------------------------------------
ADRIAN MAX
BEATRIZ BEE A TRIZ NORMA
CALVIN OTIS
DORA PILAR PEE LAR
EUGENE RAMON RAH MONE
FERNANDA FER NAN DAH SELMA
GREG TODD
HILARY VERONICA
IRWIN WILEY
JOVA HO VAH XINA ZEE NAH
KENNETH YORK
LIDIA ZELDA ZEL DAH

THE TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK...IS ISSUED FOUR TIMES A DAY...AT
4 AM...10 AM...4 PM AND 10 PM PACIFIC TIME. IT BRIEFLY DESCRIBES
SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF DISTURBED WEATHER AND THEIR POTENTIAL FOR
TROPICAL STORM FORMATION.

A SEPARATE PRODUCT...THE SPECIAL TROPICAL DISTURBANCE STATEMENT...
MAY BE ISSUED AT ANY TIME TO DESCRIBE STRONG...FORMATIVE WEATHER
SYSTEMS THAT HAVE NOT YET REACHED TROPICAL DEPRESSION STATUS. THE
SPECIAL TROPICAL DISTURBANCE STATEMENT IS ISSUED UNDER THE WMO
HEADER WOPZ41 KNHC AND UNDER AWIPS HEADER MIADSAEP.

A STANDARD PACKAGE OF PRODUCTS...CONSISTING OF THE TROPICAL CYCLONE
FORECAST/ADVISORY...AND THE CYCLONE DISCUSSION...IS ISSUED EVERY
SIX HOURS FOR ALL ONGOING TROPICAL CYCLONES. PUBLIC ADVISORIES ARE
ALSO ISSUED FOR TROPICAL CYCLONES THREATENING LAND AREAS. IN
ADDITION...A SPECIAL ADVISORY PACKAGE MAY BE ISSUED AT ANY TIME TO
ADVISE OF SIGNIFICANT UNEXPECTED CHANGES OR TO MODIFY WATCHES OR
WARNINGS.

AN ADDITIONAL PRODUCT...OF WHICH USERS MAY BE LESS FAMILIAR...IS THE
TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE. THE TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATE...OR TCU...IS
A BRIEF STATEMENT TO INFORM OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN A TROPICAL
CYCLONE OR TO POST OR CANCEL WATCHES OR WARNINGS. IT IS USED IN
LIEU OF OR TO PRECEDE THE ISSUANCE OF A SPECIAL ADVISORY PACKAGE.
A CHANGE IN THE TCU HEADER FORMAT HAS BEEN IMPLEMENTED BEGINNING
THIS YEAR. TROPICAL CYCLONE UPDATES...WHICH CAN BE ISSUED AT ANY
TIME...CAN NOW BE FOUND UNDER WMO HEADER WTPZ61-WTPZ65 KNHC...AND
UNDER AWIPS HEADER MIATCUEP1-MIATCUEP5.

OTHERWISE...TROPICAL CYCLONE DEVELOPMENT IS NOT EXPECTED THROUGH
MONDAY.

FORECASTER STEWART

Here is the first tropical weather outlook for the EPAC season.

[HurricaneBill]

So that's how you pronounce Jova. With an "H".

I could have sworn when it was used in 1993, the Weather Channel pronounced it with a "J".