ORLANDO, Fla. – 2021 was the third most active hurricane season in terms of named storms on record, and one storm name has been retired.
Out of the 21 named storms, Ida was officially retired Wednesday by the World Meteorological Organization.
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Each spring, members of the World Meteorological Organization’s hurricane committee review the previous hurricane season. If a storm creates so much damage or loss of life that it would be inappropriate to reuse for reasons of sensitivity, the World Meteorological Organization will retire that storm’s name. Think Andrew, Katrina, Ivan, Irma, Maria, etc.
Atlantic storm names run on a six-year, revolving cycle. Imani will replace Ida when the revolving list comes back around in 2027.
The WMO has retired 94 hurricane names in the Atlantic because of a storm’s deadly history and 12 of them started with the letter I. No other letter is even close. National Hurricane Center senior hurricane specialist Daniel Brown said it’s probably because hurricanes get named in alphabetical order and “by the time we get to the I name we’re into the peak hurricane season” and the storms are the type that live longer and are stronger.
Hurricane Ida devastated parts of Louisiana late last August as it came ashore with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph. The damage from the major hurricane continued far inland. Ida’s remnants spawned several destructive tornadoes in the Northeast.
Ida currently is the fifth costliest tropical system in U.S. history causing an estimated $76.5 billion in damage.
Colorado State University is once again predicting an above average hurricane season for 2022. NOAA will release its predictions later in May.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.