World Meteorological Organization retires Igor and Tomas as Atlantic hurricane names

[News_Editor]

World Meteorological Organization retires Igor and Tomas as Atlantic hurricane names

2011-03-17 21:42:05 GMT+7 (ICT)

MIAMI (BNO NEWS) -- The hurricane committee of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which issues the list of potential names for tropical cyclones to be used every six years for both the Atlantic and eastern North Pacific basins, has decided to retire the Atlantic names Igor and Tomas.

Igor was a classic Cape Verde hurricane, reaching Category 4 strength with 155 miles per hour (250 kilometers per hour) winds on September 14, 2010, while located about 600 miles (965 kilometers) east of the northern Leeward Islands. The storm weakened to a Category 1 hurricane when it struck Bermuda on September 19.

Igor grew in size, with the area of tropical-storm-force winds becoming roughly 750 nautical miles (1389 kilometers) wide and made landfall on September 21 near Cape Race in Newfoundland. It was the most damaging hurricane on that island in 75 years and killed three people along its path. Damage in Newfoundland was placed at almost $200 million U.S. dollars.

Tomas, meanwhile, became a hurricane on October 30, shortly after striking Barbados. It strengthened to a Category 2 storm striking St. Vincent and St. Lucia, becoming the latest hurricane on record to strike the Windward Islands.

After weakening to a tropical depression over the central Caribbean Sea, Tomas regained Category 1 strength on November 5 and moved between Jamaica and the southwest peninsula of Haiti, through the Windward Passage. It weakened just below hurricane strength before reaching the Turks and Caicos Islands. Fourteen people are confirmed as dead, or missing, on St. Lucia. Total damage there is estimated to be around $500 million U.S. dollars. Heavy rains associated with Tomas triggered floods and landslides in Haiti, where meteorological services state that the death toll was 35.

If the WMO hurricane committee had not decided to scrap the names, Igor and Tomas in the Atlantic would have appeared again in 2016. Ian and Tobias will now take their place instead.

The only time that there is a change in the list of names 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. If that occurs, then at an annual meeting by the WMO committee, the offending name is stricken from the list and another name is selected to replace it.

The lists are re-cycled every six years, i.e., the 2010 list will be used again in 2016.

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