Did you know Dennis and Emily have been retired?

[Hurricaneman]

Im not suprised they were retired

[WindRunner]

If anyone cares to dig around wunderground.com, you will find that that site was posted by Dr. Jeff Masters and was compiled for a blog entry in which he stated that he expected them to be retired. The list just wasn't edited when it was moved out of his blog and onto the front page. So, no these names are not officially retired, but I'd love to see anyone argue against it.

[SouthernWx]

I don't think carol should have been retired!! because it was a VERY WEAK Cat. 2 hurricane only 100 mph!!!

If you are referring to hurricane Carol from August 1954....it was one of the most destructive New England hurricanes in history.

Winds gusted in excess of 130 mph across extreme eastern Long Island and coastal Rhode Island....while a devastating storm surge innundated the Rhode Island and southeast Massachusetts coasts (including Narragansett Bay and downtown Providence, R.I.).

There's also clear evidence that Carol was a major hurricane at landfall. Newspaper articles I've researched stated that as Carol's eye passed over Groton, Connecticut....the sky became sunny and the barometer fell to 28.25" (956.7 mb). This was no weakening cloud-filled eye as was the case with hurricane Bob as it moved inland; was a clear eye indicative of a powerful hurricane.

[JTD]

Isn't it interesting. Brett, a GOM storm, weakened just before landfall too. This shoots down the theory that only NE GOM storms will weaken. So we have Brett, Dennis, Opal, Ivan (I hesitate to say Ivan weakened-it was getting it's act together again just before landfall and didn't really weaken that much plus the catastrophic damage it did but 120 mph down from 135 is significant) all weakening just before landfall.

Maybe GOM being on a higher latitiude is the answer or maybe the areas close to land in the GOM are hostile to hurricanes.

And who knows maybe if Charley had stayed out in the GOM and headed towards a place that would have taken it 24-48 hours longer to get to, it would've weakened too. Ft. Myers is after all not much higher in lat. than Miami.

Clearly, the open waters are not hostile.

[Astro_man92]

DID YOU KNOW????? that dennis was in the top 4 in the most searched for things at least in the week of july 11

[JTD]

I didn't know that but I remember though that it knocked 07/07 right out of the headlines on the Sunday it hit.

[GalvestonDuck]

According to how Wunderground has worded it, Alicia made landfall in North Texas.

[Jim Cantore]

The 1998 list had two names retired then when it came around again in 2004 4 more

That list will look ALOT diffrent next time around

And why the heck did they retire fabian it didn't do anything but wreak burmuda I thought massive damage/loss of life was required for retirement I didn't hear that out of fabian

[WindRunner]

Fabian was the worst storm bermuda has had in a long time, I think I remember hearing 50 years when it was bearing down.

[HurricaneBill]

Fabian was the worst storm bermuda has had in a long time, I think I remember hearing 50 years when it was bearing down.

Bermuda had not taken a direct hit from a major hurricane of Fabian's intensity since 1926, I think.

There was $300 million (US dollars) damage on Bermuda. Keep in mind, Bermuda is a small island.

Over the years, it always seemed like Bermuda kept dodging bullets. Fabian was the first major hurricane I've seen to make a direct hit on Bermuda.

Fabian was directly responsible for 8 deaths.

[senorpepr]

IIRC, all cat-5s are retired (even if the storm is only cat-2 or weaker at landfall and does little damage), cat-4s if they are particularly destructive, and much more rarely, lesser storms that are either incredibly destructive (e.g., Agnes) or are very unsual or interesting from a scientific standpoint (e.g., ???).

This is the reason that Bret hasn't been retired even though a cat-4 Bret struck a virtually deserted stretch of Texas coast in 1999 (at cat-4 intensity).

Actually, even if a storm reaching category five, that doesn't earn it retirement. Retirement is based on the impact to landfall, casualities and/or damage. If a storm reaches cat 5, but weakens well before land, or is a fish, it will not be retired. See Hurricane Guillermo 1997.

Many people seem to believe that storms will be retired based on reaching a phenomenal strength or being unique, such as forming in April or what not. That doesn't have a bearing on what "retirement" is for. When a storm is retired, it is not for morale purposes. It's to facilitate historic references, but namely it is for legal actions, insurance claims, and to limit public confusion. If a storm reaches category five, but is a fish, there are no legal actions, insurance claims, or public to be confused, without regard to the occasional ship.

Furthermore, retirement is technically a temporary thing. Once a storm is retired, by WMO regulations, it cannot be used for 10 years. By that time, any legal issues should be accomplished. Essentially, names like Agnes or Carla are fair game for reappearing on a future year's name list. Even Andrew and Camille can technically return from retirement, although that is a likely as world peace.

Here are the only names that "technically" cannot be used in the Atlantic basin: Luis, Marily, Opal, Roxanne, Cesar, Fran, Hortense, Georges, Mitch, Floyd, Lenny, Keith, Allison, Iris, Michelle, Isidore, Lili, Fabian, Isabel, Juan, Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne.

[JTD]

Why on earth was Isidore retired??

[senorpepr]

Why on earth was Isidore retired??

Four direct deaths and an estimated $330M in US damages. My guess is that the damage in Cuba and Mexico (when Isidore was a major hurricane) probably was the reason for the retirement.

[Brent]

Why on earth was Isidore retired??

Uh... it devastated the Yucatan pretty severely... Cat 3 winds and torrential rains(sat over it for a day and a half).

[gilbert88]

Why on earth was Isidore retired??

[JTD]

Why on earth was Isidore retired??

The below is not worthy of being retired:

Press reports indicate that there were 2 indirect deaths attributable to Isidore in Merida, Mexico. One was electrocuted by a downed power line, another died in a weather-related car crash. Four direct and one indirect deaths occurred in the United States. One was a marine fatality drowning from a rip current near Port Fourchon, LA on 22 September when Isidore was still over Yucatan, another one was a drowning in a vehicle parked near a casino in Mississippi when storm surge inundated the parking lot. A third died when a tree fell across his car in eastern Mississippi, and the forth one died after driving into 10 feet of water in Clarksville, Tennessee. The indirect death occurred in Mississippi when a man suffered from a cardiac arrest and could not be reached by rescuers due to floodwaters.

Damage from Isidore in Jamaica was mainly related to torrential rains. Western Cuba and Yucatan were severely damaged by the hurricane primarily the agriculture and cattle industry. According to Tropical Cyclone Reports from the weather services of Cuba and Mexico, numerous houses and power lines were damaged by wind.

In the United States, the Property Claim Services Division of the Insurance Services Office reports that insured losses due to Isidore totaled 165 million dollars. Using a two to one factor for insured to overall damage gives a total damage estimate of $330 million. Most of the damage occurred in Louisiana.

[Hurricanehink]

IIRC, all cat-5s are retired (even if the storm is only cat-2 or weaker at landfall and does little damage), cat-4s if they are particularly destructive, and much more rarely, lesser storms that are either incredibly destructive (e.g., Agnes) or are very unsual or interesting from a scientific standpoint (e.g., ???).

This is the reason that Bret hasn't been retired even though a cat-4 Bret struck a virtually deserted stretch of Texas coast in 1999 (at cat-4 intensity).

Careful, not all Cat. 5's are retired. The following weren't:
Hurricane Dog, 1950- Reached 180 M.P.H. winds south of Bermuda, weakened before hitting the island. (Probably wouldn't be retired anyway due to nomenclature)
Hurricane Easy, 1951- Reached Cat. 5 status north of the islands and brought winds to Bermuda. (See above)
Hurricane Cleo, 1958- Classical Cape Verde storm that happened to hit Cat. 5 before recurving.
Hurricane Ethel, 1960- Reached Cat. 5 in the Gulf of Mexico (though in re-analysis I will bet a million dollars that it will be reduced a lot), weakened to TS before landfall.
Hurricane Edith, 1971- Caribbean hurricane that hit Cat. 5 before hitting Central America, ultimately hit Louisiana as a Cat. 2.

[senorpepr]

The below is not worthy of being retired:

Press reports indicate that there were 2 indirect deaths attributable to Isidore in Merida, Mexico. One was electrocuted by a downed power line, another died in a weather-related car crash. Four direct and one indirect deaths occurred in the United States. One was a marine fatality drowning from a rip current near Port Fourchon, LA on 22 September when Isidore was still over Yucatan, another one was a drowning in a vehicle parked near a casino in Mississippi when storm surge inundated the parking lot. A third died when a tree fell across his car in eastern Mississippi, and the forth one died after driving into 10 feet of water in Clarksville, Tennessee. The indirect death occurred in Mississippi when a man suffered from a cardiac arrest and could not be reached by rescuers due to floodwaters.

Damage from Isidore in Jamaica was mainly related to torrential rains. Western Cuba and Yucatan were severely damaged by the hurricane primarily the agriculture and cattle industry. According to Tropical Cyclone Reports from the weather services of Cuba and Mexico, numerous houses and power lines were damaged by wind.

In the United States, the Property Claim Services Division of the Insurance Services Office reports that insured losses due to Isidore totaled 165 million dollars. Using a two to one factor for insured to overall damage gives a total damage estimate of $330 million. Most of the damage occurred in Louisiana.

This above clip does not indicate whether Isidore was retirement-worthy because it does not list the damages to Jamaica, Cuba, and Mexico. That is why it was retired.

[JTD]

It does mention Meridia, Mexico and the 2 deaths.

But, yeah, upon reflection: I generally agree with whatever the hurricane centers do so I guess I shouldn't question them here.

I wouldn't have retired it but I'm sure they have reasons that I'm missing.

[Huckster]

Does anyone know why Juan wasn't retired in 1985? It caused more damage than Elena or Gloria, both of which were retired.