78 Scientific American, August 2020GRAPHIC SCIENCE
Text by Mark Fischetti | Graphic by Will ChaseOnly traditional feminine
names were used until 1979.(^32)
(^342)
1
2
(^523)
(^444)
5
4
(^42)
3
3
34
43
425
2 5
3
1
(^44)
2
(^13)
5
4
(^52)
(^14)
(^553)
3
3
2
45
4
44
2
1
5 2
2 4 4
23 11 3 1 3 3
(^2311)
(^44)
1
4
4
(^23)
32
3
2
2
(^14)
4
35
3
3 4
4 2
32
1
43
52
1
(^24)
(^24)
4
(^11)
2
3
1
3
1
4
43
3
4 5
5
(^121)
5
150
120
90
60
30
0
150
120
90
60
30
0
1950
MICHAEL
CAROLEDNAHAZEL
CONNIEDIANE
IONE
JANET
AUDREY
DONNA
CARLA
HATTIE
FLORA
CLEO
DORA
HILDA
BETSY
INEZ
BEULAH
CAMILLE
CELIA
AGNES
CARMEN
FIFI
ELOISE
ANITA
GRETA
DAVID
FREDERIC
ALLEN
ALICIA
ELENA
GLORIA
GILBERT
JOAN
HUGO
DIANA
KLAUS
BOB
ANDREW
MARILYNLUIS
FRANCESARROXANNEOPAL
HORTENSE
GEORGES
FLOYDMITCH
LENNY
ALLISONKEITH
MICHELLEIRIS
ISIDORE
FABIANLILI
ISABEL
JUAN
CHARLEY
FRANCES
IVAN
JEANNE
DENNIS
KATRINA
RITA
STAN
WILMA
DEAN
FELIX
NOEL
GUSTAV
IKE
PALOMA
IGOR
TOMAS
IRENE
SANDY
INGRID
ERIKA
JOAQUIN
MATTHEWOTTO
HARVEYIRMA
MARIANATE
FLORENCE
54
1950
1975
20002000
of Dollars
Billions
HURRICANE NAME
4
Financial damages
1950
2015
Hurricane category
Tropical storm
Tropical depression
Area not affected
U.S. Gulf Coast
U.S. Eastern Seaboard
Caribbean
Mexico and Central America
50 10,000
Number of deaths
Made landfall
Did not make
landfall
Previous occurrences of same name
Destructiveness
1 2 3 4 5
(^195419541954)
Year
Storm strength and region affected
1955
1955
1955
1955
1957
1960
1961
1961
1963
1964
1964
1964
1965
1966
1967
1969
1970
1972
1974
1974
1975
1977
1978
1979
1979
1980
1983
1985
1985
1988
1988
1989
1990
1990
1991
1992
1995
19951995
(^1999199819981996199619961995)
(^20001999)
2001
2001
2001
2002
2002
2003
2003
2003
2004
2004
2004
2004
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2007
2007
2007
2008
2008
2008
2010
2010
2011
2012
2013
2015
2015
2016
2016
2017
2017
20172017
20182018
SOURCES:
NOAA HURRICANE
DATABA SE ( storm dates,
landfall information and
classifications); DEATH AND
DAMAGE VALUES COMPILED
FROM A VARIETY OF GOVERNMENT
AND NEWS REPORTS; DAMAGE AMOUNTS
WERE ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION
Hurricane Infamy
Storm names are retired based on death or damage
Since 1950, when a formal naming process began, the monikers of 89 northeastern
Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico hurricanes have been retired because of the
deaths or excessive financial damage they caused. A list of 21 names is designated for
each of six successive years; in year seven, the set from year one repeats, and so on.
(Beyond 21, which is rare, names come from the Greek alphabet.) Retired names are
replaced. A storm “Florence” formed eight times before it achieved infamy in 2018.
In the mid-1900s fatalities may have been high even when damages were modest, in
part because early-warning systems and emergency
responses were not as effective as today.
In recent times damages have
mounted largely because
coastal population and
value of infrastruc-
ture have risen
dramatically.
Devastation Details
© 2020 Scientific American