There Will Never Be Another Hurricane Ian Or Fiona

Damage from Hurricane Ian in Florida. Usually, the same
hurricane names are rotated through every six years, unless one
particular storm is super bad. Then the name is retired. 
So because of their power, there won't be another
Hurricane Ian or Hurricane Fiona. 

 The Powers That Be who name hurricanes rotate the same names every six years.

That is, unless a hurricane is so destructive and deadly that it is seared on the minds of its victims.  

So, say goodbye to any chance of another Hurricane Ian or Hurricane Fiona.   In the future, say hello to hurricanes Farrah and Idris. Hurricanes Ian and Fiona in 2022 definitely left their marks, and it's no wonder their names are being retired.

Hurricane Ian trashed Florida, and was one on of the costliest hurricanes on record for the United States. 

The long track of Hurricane Fiona caused a lot of damage in Puerto Rico before making a turn north and making a long journey to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, Canada, unleashing perhaps the worst hurricane disaster in Canadian history. 

The World Meteorological Organization, which is in charge of hurricane names, has retired 94 names overall. A committee then comes up with replacement names

As the Washington Post reports: 

"The storm names come from a WMO committee composed of meteorology and hydrology experts from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Official storm naming began in 1953 to ease communication around storm warnings and thus protect lives and property from life-threatening conditions."

As an aside, the entire planet is probably grateful I'm not in charge of naming hurricanes. I'd probably come up with names like Kudlow,  Beezle, Monkton, Tootsie or Skunk.  But I digress. 

For some reason, hurricanes that begin with the letter "I" are the most likely to be retired. Ian is the 13th "I" hurricane to have its name retired. The others are Ione in 1955, Inez in 1966k Iris in 2001, Isidore in 2002, Isabel in 2003, Ivan in 2004k Ike in 2008, Igor in 2010, Irene in 2011, Ingrid in 2013 Irma in 2017 and Ida in 2021.

Speaking of Hurricane Ian, the National Hurricane Center last month came out with a detailed analysis of that storm. The NHC issues final reports on most hurricanes months after they happen to share knowledge gained, lessons learned, etc. These reports also offer revisions to statistics about the hurricanes. 

In the case of Ian, the National Hurricane Center has upgraded Ian's peak strength from Category 4 to Category 5 when it was just off the coast of western Florida. Category 5 is the strongest strength ranking a hurricane can attain. Such storms have sustained winds of at least 157 mph. 

Winds were as high as 160 mph during Ian's peak.  The storm "weakened," if you can call it that, by the time it reached land in Florida, with top winds of "only" 150 mph. 

Experts are hoping hurricane season 2023 will be less intense than in recent years. An El Nino, which creates warmer water in the Pacific Ocean west of South America is developing. El Ninos tend to limit hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean. 

Limit, but not eliminate. It only takes one to really raise havoc, unfortunately.