WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — QUESTION:
How are Atlantic tropical storms named? Has “Isaias” ever been used before for a tropical storm or hurricane?
ANSWER:
Names are approved and retired by the World Meteorological Organization. Isaias, has never been used before, though it was on the list of names for 2014.
SOURCES:
Dennis Feltgen- National Hurricane Center- Communications Officer
National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Hurricane Center- "Tropical Cyclone names," and "Tropical Cyclone Naming History and Retired Names"
World Meteorological Organization- "Tropical Cyclone Naming"
PROCESS:
Atlantic tropical cyclones are named and approved by the World Meteorological Organization; they have six lists of names that are re-used every six years.
So has "Isaias" ever been used before for a tropical storm or hurricane?
Dennis Feltgen, a communications officer for the National Hurricane Center, confirmed it hasn't.
He said the name Isaias was selected in early 2009 when the World Meteorological Organization's voted to retire 2008’s “Ike.”
The first year Isaias could have been used was 2014, but the storm season stopped with Hurricane Hanna.
If Isaias isn’t retired, Feltgen said it will appear on the list for 2026.
"The only time that there is a change in the list is if a storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for reasons of sensitivity," the National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Hurricane Center says online. "If that occurs, then at an annual meeting by the WMO committee (called primarily to discuss many other issues) the offending name is stricken from the list and another name is selected to replace it."
That's not the case for every retired name: the National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Hurricane Center noted that before 1979, some names were "simply not used anymore."