Hurricanes that have a severe impact on lives or the economy are remembered generations after the devastation they caused, and some go into weather history. The National Hurricane Center near Miami, Florida, monitors tropical disturbances in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific Oceans which could become a hurricane.

    Whenever a hurricane has had a major impact, any country affected by the storm can request that the name of the hurricane be "retired" by agreement of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Retiring a name actually means that it cannot be reused for at least 10 years, to facilitate historic references, legal actions, insurance claim activities, etc. and avoid public confusion with another storm of the same name. If that happens, a like gender name is selected in English, Spanish or French for Atlantic Storms.

    There is an exception to the retirement rule, however. Before 1979, when the first permanent six-year storm name list began, some storm names were simply not used anymore. For example, in 1966, "Fern" was substituted for "Frieda," and no reason was cited.

    Below is a list of Atlantic Ocean retired names, the years the hurricanes occurred, and the areas they affected. There are, however, a great number of destructive storms not included on this list because they occurred before the hurricane naming convention was established in 1950.

Atlantic Storms Retired Into Hurricane History

	Agnes (1972§*): Florida, Northeast U.S.
	Alicia (1983*): North Texas
	Allen (1980*): Antilles, Mexico, South Texas
	Andrew (1992*): Bahamas, South Florida, Louisiana
	Anita (1977): Mexico
	Audrey (1957§*): Louisiana, North Texas
	Betsy (1965§*): Bahamas, Southeast Florida, Southeast Louisiana
	Beulah (1967*): Antilles, Mexico, South Texas
	Bob (1991*): North Carolina & Northeast U.S.
	Camille (1969§*): Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama
	Carla (1961§*): Texas
	Carmen (1974): Mexico, Central Louisiana
	Carol (1954§*): Northeast U.S.
	Cesar (1996): Honduras
	Celia (1970*): South Texas
	Cleo (1964*): Lesser Antilles, Haiti, Cuba, Southeast Florida
	Connie (1955§): North Carolina
	David (1979): Lesser Antilles, Hispañola, Florida and Eastern U.S.
	Diana (1990): Mexico
	Diane (1955§*): Mid-Atlantic U.S. & Northeast U.S.
	Donna (1960§*): Bahamas, Florida and Eastern U.S.
	Dora (1964*): Northeast Florida
	Edna (1968)
	Elena (1985*): Mississippi, Alabama, Western Florida
	Eloise (1975*): Antilles, Northwest Florida, Alabama
	Fifi (1974): Yucatan Peninsula, Louisiana
	Flora (1963): Haiti, Cuba
	Floyd (1999): North Carolina, eastern seaboard
	Fran (1996): North Carolina
	Frederic (1979*): Alabama and Mississippi
	Gilbert (1988): Lesser Antilles, Jamaica, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
	Gloria (1985*): North Carolina, Northeast U.S.
	Hattie (1961): Belize, Guatemala
	Hazel (1954§*): Antilles, North and South Carolina
	Hilda (1964§*): Louisiana
	Hortense (1996)
	Hugo (1989*): Antilles, South Carolina
	Inez (1966): Lesser Antilles, Hispanola, Cuba, Florida Keys, Mexico
	Ione (1955*): North Carolina
	Janet (1955): Lesser Antilles, Belize, Mexico
	Joan (1988): Curacao, Venezuela, Colombia, Nicaragua (Crossed into the Pacific and became Miriam)
	Klaus (1990): Martinique
	Lenny (1999): Antilles
	Luis (1995)
	Marilyn (1995): Bermuda
	Mitch (1998): Central America, Nicaragua, Honduras
	Opal (1995): Florida Panhandle
	Roxanne (1995): Yucatan Peninsula

KEY
    Within the list of top 37 deadliest U.S. hurricanes
* Within the list of the top 31 costliest U.S. hurricanes (in 1990 dollars)
(Measurements only available through 1992 for storms that affected the U.S.)

NOTES:
    "Carol" was used again to denote a hurricane in the Mid-Atlantic Ocean in 1965. However, because the name does not appear after that time, it is assumed that the name was retired retrospectively for the damages caused by the 1954 storm of the same name.
    The (2001) names "Allison", "Iris', and "Michelle" will be proposed for retirement when the World Meteorological Organization's Regional Association-IV meets in the Spring, 2002.
***This document originally published by NOAA. For more information contact National Hurricane Center public affairs at (305) 229-4404 or visit the NHC Web site at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov.

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Last Revised: August 24, 2008 01:52 PM.

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