History of naming storms

Hurricanes in the West Indies were named based on which saint's day the storm struck.  Accodring to Ivan R. Tannerhill's "Hurricaned." there was Hurricane Santa Ana, which struck Puerto Rico on July 26th, 1825: and San Felipe (the first) and San Felip (the second) both struck Puerto Rico on September 13, in 1876 and in 1928.  

Toward the end of the 19th century, Austrailian meterologists began naming tropicql storms after women, according to Tannehill.  During World War II, the notion of naming tropicl storms after women became common, especially among Air Force and Navy meteorogists according to National Weather Service.  In 1953, the United States began using women's names.  My 1978, men's names were added to the list of Eastern North Pacific storms.  The Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico followed the following year.  

The World Meteroorlogical Organization uses six lists of names in rotation now.  The same ists are reused every six years, unless a name is retired.  Then, a new name is added.  Pictured is Hirrican Charley that hit our coast in 2004.  It was the third named storm, the second hurricane, and the second major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season.  

We are more fortunate than our Atlantic Coast neighbors here on the Gulf of Mexico in Southwest Florida because history has shown that hurricanes are less likely to hit in our region.  

***Article courtesy of Sun Newspapers, Hurricane Preparation Guide 2017