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Watching the Tropics tracks storms destined to the United States East coast, the Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico out of the Atlantic hurricane basin.
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Atlantic Hurricane Basin Storm Archive

Tropical Storm and Hurricane Naming Conventions

The practice of naming hurricanes began to simplify communication, replacing the cumbersome latitude-longitude method with short, memorable names. This helps reduce errors and confusion, especially when multiple storms occur at the same time. Historically, hurricanes were often named after saints based on the day they occurred.

In the late 19th century, an Australian meteorologist began naming storms after women, and this practice gained popularity during World War II. In 1953, the U.S. started officially naming storms with female names, and by 1979, both male and female names were used for hurricanes in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.