One of the fun jobs at the National Hurricane Center is naming storms. Ponder for a moment.
OK — so each year, the center publishes an alphabetical list of 21 monikers for the impending Atlantic storm season. (Tricky letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z don’t make the cut.) There have never been that many storms — except once, in 1933 — but this year there’ve already been 17, with two months to go. (And no, likely not because of climate change — read this to find out more.)
So what happens if the names run out? Greek names! Yes, that’s right, Hurricane Alpha could be coming soon to a neighborhood near you — but not before Stan, Tammy, Vince, and Wilma. (For real.)
