Surprising Facts About The Number Of Retired Names

[HURAKAN]

Since 1954 every damaging or deadly storm in the Atlantic Ocean that has been ask its name to be retired, has been retired and a new name issued to replace it. I put it in these words because as we all remember in 1994 Hurricane Gordon caused more than 1100 deaths in Haiti and because no one asked for it to be retired, it wasn't retire. But lets continue, in the following "list of notable tropical cyclones" you will see how many names has been retired by the decades and you will be surprised in what era we are living as of today.

Retired names:

1950s

Carol, 1954 - caused over $1 billion in damage in New England.
Edna, 1954 - killed 20 people in New England and caused $40 million in damage.
Hazel, 1954 - killed 1,000 in Haiti, caused heavy damage and killed nearly 200 in the US and Canada from the Carolinas to New York and Ontario.
Connie, 1955 - caused extensive flooding in New England.
Diane, 1955 - struck the same area five days after Connie, and the two storms killed over 400.
Ione, 1955 - third storm to strike the same area, causing further damage to North Carolina.
Janet†, 1955 - struck Grenada and Belize, killing over 500.
Audrey, 1957 - killed 390 in Texas and Louisiana.
Gracie, 1959 - killed 22 in South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia.

1960s

Donna, 1960 - impacted every U.S. state on the east coast, killing 50 and causing $1 billion damage.
Carla, 1961 - large hurricane that caused damage in Texas as far inland as Dallas.
Hattie†, 1961 - hit British Honduras, destroying Belize City and killing 400.
Flora, 1963 - killed over 7,000 people in Haiti and Cuba.
Cleo, 1964 - killed over 150 in Guadeloupe and Hispaniola, then struck Miami, Florida.
Dora, 1964 - only hurricane on record to strike Jacksonville, Florida.
Hilda, 1964 - damaged New Orleans, Louisiana, killed 38.
Betsy, 1965 - caused $1.42 billion ($8 billion in 2000 dollars) damage and killed 76 in Louisiana.
Inez, 1966 - killed 1,000 in Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba and Mexico.
Beulah, 1967 - dropped almost 30 inches of rain on Beeville, Texas.
Camille†, 1969 - one of the strongest storms ever recorded, killed 143 along the U.S. Gulf coast.

1970s

Celia, 1970 - killed 20 people after hitting Corpus Christi, Texas.
Agnes, 1972 - caused flooding that killed 122 in the United States and $3.1 billion damage.
Carmen, 1974 - caused $150 million damage in the United States.
Fifi, 1974 - killed 8,000 in Honduras.
Eloise, 1975 - killed 76 from Hispaniola to Florida and northwards.
Anita, 1977 - struck Mexico near the Texas border, killing 10.
David, 1979 - killed over 2,000 people, mostly in the Dominican Republic and Dominica.
Frederic, 1979 - caused from $1 to $3 billion damage on the U.S. Gulf coast.

1980s

Allen, 1980 - one of the strongest hurricanes ever, spawned a tornado that alone caused $100 million damage.
Alicia, 1983 - struck Galveston, Texas then Houston, killing 22 and causing $2 billion damage.
Elena, 1985 - caused $1.25 billion damage in Florida and Mississippi.
Gloria, 1985 - hit New York's Long Island, among other areas, causing $900 million damage.
Gilbert†, 1988 - strongest hurricane ever recorded, killed 318 and caused $5 billion damage.
Joan, 1988 - killed 148 in Nicaragua and 68 in other nations.
Hugo, 1989 - caused $10 billion damage and killed 76, mostly in the Carolinas, Puerto Rico, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

1990s

Diana, 1990 - killed 96 in Mexico.
Klaus, 1990 - a weak storm that burst a dam in Georgia, killing 4.
Bob, 1991 - struck New England and the Canadian Maritimes, killing 18.
Andrew†, 1992 - costliest American natural disaster ever at $26.5 billion and over 23 deaths.
Luis, 1995 - caused much damage to St. Martin, Antigua, Barbuda, and the British Virgin Islands.
Marilyn, 1995 - caused much damage to St. Thomas.
Opal, 1995 - killed 59 in Guatemala, Mexico and the United States, causing $3 billion damage.
Roxanne, 1995 - hit same area of Mexico as Opal, killing 14 and causing $1.5 billion damage.
Cesar, 1996 - flooded Central America.
Fran, 1996 - killed 26 and caused $3.2 billion damage after striking Cape Fear, North Carolina.
Hortense, 1996 - killed 21 from floods.
Georges, 1998 - killed 533 in Hispaniola, caused $5.9 billion damage in the United States.
Mitch, 1998 - killed about 11,000 in Honduras and neighboring countries, more than any storm in over 200 years.
Floyd, 1999 - flooded eastern North Carolina, killing 77 in multiple states and causing $6 billion damage.
Lenny, 1999 - killed 17 in the Lesser Antilles.

2000s

Keith, 2000 - killed 70 in Central America.
Allison‡, 2001 - flooded Texas and caused $5 billion damage and 41 deaths.
Iris, 2001 - devastated Belize.
Michelle, 2001 - killed 17 in Honduras, Belize, Cuba and Jamaica.
Isidore, 2002 - killed 7 and caused $330 million damage over Yucatan and the United States.
Lili, 2002 - killed 13, mostly in St. Vincent and Jamaica, and caused $860 million damage to the United States.
Fabian, 2003 - did serious damage to Bermuda, killing 8
Isabel, 2003 - a large storm that hit Washington, D.C. and other northeast areas from North Carolina to the Great Lakes, killing 51.
Juan, 2003 - first strong hurricane to hit Halifax, Nova Scotia in over 100 years.
Charley, 2004 - devastated southwest Florida with $14 billion damage
Frances, 2004 - struck the Bahamas and central Florida causing $9 billion in damage and flooded the Appalachians
Ivan, 2004 - monster storm that flattened Grenada and also devastated the Cayman Islands, Cuba, Jamaica and the eastern United States
Jeanne, 2004 - killed over 3,000 in Haiti and hit central Florida in the same area as Frances, causing $6 billion in damage.

The Numbers and Averages:

1950s (1954 - 1959, 6 yrs) - 9 retired names, 1.5 per year in average

1960s ( 1960 - 1969, 10 yrs) - 11 retired names, 1.1 per year in average

1970s ( 1970 - 1979, 10 yrs) - 8 retired names, 0.8 per year in average

1980s ( 1980 - 1989, 10 yrs) - 7 retired names, 0.7 per year in average

1990s ( 1990 - 1999, 10 yrs) - 15 retired names, 1.5 per year in average

2000s ( 2000 - 2004, 5 yrs) - 13 retired names, 2.6 per year in average

Is not completely surprising that as time advances more and more names are being retired, now more than ever people are building more along the coastlines around the world, and in parts which are endangered by tropical cyclones the total destruction is and will continue to increase, this is not a forecast, is a reality.

THANKS TO WIKIPEDIA FOR PROVIDING THE INFORMATION.

[DoctorHurricane2003]

Just two corrections

1990-Klaus didn't come anywhere near Georgia....this was something in the Virgin Islands.

1998-Georges did not cause $5.9 Billion in damage in the U.S. alone.....maybe across the areas it hit.....but not just in the U.S.

Otherwise yes...it is very concerning and ominous at how many names are being retired.

[Brent]

Klaus, 1990 - a weak storm that burst a dam in Georgia, killing 4.

I was wondering why it got retired...

Wasn't Georgia though:

[Derek Ortt]

Doc,

the info contained was correct, though the one about Klaus is a bit misleading. Klaus merged with Marco and flooded Georgia. All damage was officially credited to Marco.

Georges did cause 5.9 billion worth of total damage to the USA. 3.6 billion occurred in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The 2.3 billion figure is the US mainland damage, but the 5.9 billion figure is the official overall US damage figure from Georges, placing it 7th all time in terms of amount of destruction (Jeanne's 6.9 billion includes 50 million from Puerto Rico as well)

[Swimdude]

Fascinating statistics. Here's something else I noted from those details...

Number of names retired; beginning with the letter...

A - 7
B - 3
C - 7
D - 5
E - 3
F - 7

Nevermind, i'm finding no trend, except for odd numbers.

[DoctorHurricane2003]

Oh I was thinking the 50 states, not including PR and USVI.

Even so I am pretty sure Klaus didn't get retired just from 'bursting a dam in Georgia.' Many storms have done that. I even think Alberto did more damage than Klaus.

[Steve]

Great thread. Thanks for the wiki data. Anyone wanna guess if we're going to have 2.6 (3) storm names retired this year?

/nya-ah-ah

Steve

[Trader Ron]

Interesting that Seven "A" names are retired.

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

We will be seeing Arlene in 2011...Interesting list of retirments there.

[HurricaneBill]

Like Diana, Klaus is one of the most difficult retired storms to find info on the internet. (Nearly all info on Diana is about the 1984 Diana and not the 1990 retired Diana.)

Klaus only reached Category 1 strength, but moved sluggishly for a few days off of the Leeward Islands.

Hurricane Klaus made closest approach to Antigua and Barbuda.
Both islands had minimal to moderate damage.

Martinique, however, bore the brunt of the storm. Torrential rains pounded Martinique for a few days, causing flooding in the central part of the island.

Damage in Marinique was extensive and 7 people lost their lives.

Klaus finally moved away from the Leeward Islands and weakened to a TD. Near the Bahamas, Klaus strengthened to a TS and appeared to pose a threat to Florida. However, Klaus soon weakened again.

Incidentally, moisture from Klaus helped to strengthen TS Marco off the west coast of Florida.

The remnants of Klaus moved along a front with Marco. Hurricane Lili to the NE, helped the remnants of Klaus move over Georgia and South Carolina. The remnants of Klaus dumped tremendous amounts of rain on South Carolina. Although the rain ended a drought, it also caused a dam to burst, sending a flash flood. 4 people drowned, including a nearby toddler and also 3 people in a car on the road.

In all, Klaus killed 11 people.

I think Klaus was retired mainly for the damage in Martinique.

[Aslkahuna]

The lower averages per year for retired storms in the 1970's and 1980's is also due to the lesser amount of ATL activity during those two decades.

Steve

[patsmsg]

Fascinating statistics. Here's something else I noted from those details...

Number of names retired; beginning with the letter...

A - 7
B - 3
C - 7
D - 5
E - 3
F - 7

Nevermind, i'm finding no trend, except for odd numbers.

Oh, I don't know Swimdude, 2 more "D's" retired, and this would be symmetrical. Therefore...my prediction is for 2 D-storms to be retired this year


(I couldn't help myself!)

[Anonymous]

I think the following names SHOULD have been retired:::

1985: Juan, due to over a billion dollars in damage in Louisiana and having killed atleast 12 people.

1994: Alberto, for 30 deaths in the United States, and atleast 500 million dollars damage.

Gordon, for over 1,000 deaths in the Caribbean.

1996: Bertha for it's mid-season impact on North Carolina, including millions in damage and deaths.

1998: Bonnie for it's impact on North Carolina and Virginia, including over 700 millions dollars in damage.

[cyclonaut]

One this is for sure.

The #'s are quickly on the rise.

[Derek Ortt]

the only three that was not retired, that should have been are Juan 1985 (much more so than Gloria, thats for sure), Gordon in 1994, and Lili in 1996. How those 3 slipped through is beyond me


Bill, did Klaus really do all of that to Martinique? In the NHC report, it indicates absolutely no effect directly from Klaus on Martinique, which makes sense as Klaus was being impacted by 35KT westerly shear at the time (it also may not have been a hurricane based upon FL data, the upgrade was made based upon lower level FL readings, with little reduction... i.e. no reduction)

[AussieMark]

how come some of the storms from the 1950's are listed as billion dollar storms. I was sure Betsy was the first storm to have such a figure.

Betsy in 1965 had $1.4205 Billion

Diane in 1955 was $831.7 Million
Carol in 1954 was $461 million
Donna in 1960 was $387 million

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastcost.shtml

[HurryKane]

how come some of the storms from the 1950's are listed as billion dollar storms. I was sure Betsy was the first storm to have such a figure.

Betsy in 1965 had $1.4205 Billion

Diane in 1955 was $831.7 Million
Carol in 1954 was $461 million
Donna in 1960 was $387 million

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/pastcost.shtml

One thing you have to be careful about with Wikipedia is that the content can be edited by anyone, so there may be some errors or missing context. I'm willing to bet that the Wikipedia figure for Carol is adjusted for inflation but not noted as such in that particular entry, while the ones listed in the NHC link you provide are not adjusted for inflation.

For instance, this list is adjusted for 2003 inflation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_no ... Hurricanes

[Derek Ortt]

that is the actual damage figure for Carol. Inflation would put Carol well into the billions.

Carol replaced the 1938 Long Island Express hurricane as the most costly in US history when it occurred

[HurryKane]

that is the actual damage figure for Carol. Inflation would put Carol well into the billions.

Carol replaced the 1938 Long Island Express hurricane as the most costly in US history when it occurred

According to this, in the end it did not: (figures from NOAA and adjusted for inflation) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_no ... Hurricanes
which references http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/E12.html (scroll to Most Damaging Hurricanes) for its numbers. Carol is #14 at $12.3 billion 2003 dollars while the 1938 hurricane is #6 at $22.5 billion.

[Derek Ortt]

it replaced the 38 in terms of absolute dollars, not inflation adjusted