ORLADO, Fla. – In an annual conference Wednesday, the World Meteorological Organization’s hurricane committee officially retired Ian and Fiona from the rotating list of names.
Hurricane names are recycled every six years unless the storm is “so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for obvious reasons of sensitivity,” according to the WMO.
Hurricane Ian, of course, was a large and powerful Category 4 hurricane that brought devastating impacts to Southwest Florida. Significant impacts were also felt well inland, with extreme flooding, including along the St. Johns River. Ian was responsible for 150 direct and indirect deaths and over $112 billion in damage in the U.S.
Ian was the costliest hurricane in Florida history and third costliest in U.S. history.
Ian also struck Cuba as a major hurricane prior to making landfall in Florida.
This marks the 13th time an “I” storm has been retired, by far the most.
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Hurricane Fiona impacted the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and the Turks and Caicos. It also struck Canada as a strong post-tropical cyclone.
Fiona brought extreme freshwater flooding to Puerto Rico as it made landfall as a Category 1 storm. The storm produced over $3 billion in damage across the Caribbean and Canada and was responsible for 29 direct and indirect fatalities.
Fiona was the costliest weather event on record for Atlantic Canada.
Idris and Farrah will be used in their place when the list cycles back around in 2028.