There will never be another Hurricane Melissa, after the World Meteorological Organization Hurricane Committee officially retired the name for good after the death and destruction caused by Melissa in Oct. 2025. FOX Weather Hurricane Specialist joins FOX Weather to talk about Melissa and the name retirement.
The names used for hurricanes in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific rotate on a six-year cycle, with new names swapped in for storms that are retired due to their significance.
Hurricane season begins on May 15 in the Eastern Pacific, while in the Atlantic, the season starts June 1. Both seasons conclude on Nov. 30 each year.
HOW DO HURRICANES AND TROPICAL STORMS GET THEIR NAMES?
FOX Weather Meteorologist Kiyana Lewis explains how the World Meteorological Organization manages the names we give to hurricanes and tropical storms.
Hurricanes are named in alphabetical order, beginning with A on both lists.
There are 21 names on the Atlantic season list and 24 names on the Eastern Pacific season list.
WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A TROPICAL DEPRESSION, TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE?
Hurricanes names are recycled every six years, meaning names that were used and not retired in 2020 will be used again in 2026.
A hurricane name is retired when a storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for sensitivity reasons, the National Hurricane Center said.
The World Meteorological Organization then chooses the replacement name.
HERE’S WHY ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON RUNS FROM JUNE TO NOVEMBER
One name was retired from the 2020 naming list after Category 4 Hurricane Laura made landfall near Cameron, Louisiana, in late August 2020.
GOES 16 GeoColor Satellite Image of Hurricane Laura at 6:01 PM CDT on August 26, 2020.
(NOAA)
Leah replaces the name Laura on the Atlantic naming list.
In the East Pacific, the list remains the same as 2020’s season.
What are the storm names for the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season?
The Atlantic hurricane season this year begins with Arthur and ends with Wilfred. These are the names and their pronunciations:
- Arthur (AR-thur)
- Bertha (BUR-thuh)
- Cristobal (krees-TOH-bahl)
- Dolly (DAH-lee)
- Edouard (eh-DWARD)
- Fay (fay)
- Gonzalo (gohn-SAH-loh)
- Hanna (HAN-uh)
- Isaias (ees-ah-EE-ahs)
- Josephine (JOH-seh-feen)
- Kyle (KY-ull)
- Leah (LEE-ah)
- Marco (MAR-koe)
- Nana (NA-na)
- Omar (OH-mar)
- Paulette (pawl-LET)
- Rene (re-NAY)
- Sally (SAL-ee)
- Teddy (TEHD-ee)
- Vicky (VIH-kee)
- Wilfred (WILL-fred)
HURRICANE MELISSA TIES RECORD FOR STRONGEST HURRICANE IN ATLANTIC HISTORY
What are the storm names for the 2026 Eastern Pacific hurricane season?
The Eastern Pacific’s season begins with Amanda and ends with Zeke. These are the names and their pronunciations:
- Amanda (uh-MAN-duh)
- Boris (bor-EES)
- Cristina (kris-TEE-nuh)
- Douglas (DUG-luss)
- Elida (ELL-ee-dah)
- Fausto (FOW-sto)
- Genevieve (jeh-nuh-VEEV)
- Hernan (her-NAHN)
- Iselle (ee-SELL)
- Julio (HOO-lee-o)
- Karina (kuh-REE-nuh)
- Lowell (LO-uhl)
- Marie (muh-REE)
- Norbert (NOR-bert)
- Odalys (oh-DAL-ess)
- Polo (POH-loh)
- Rachel (RAY-chull)
- Simon (SY-muhn)
- Trudy (TROO-dee)
- Vance (vanss)
- Winnie (WIN-ee)
- Xavier (ZAY-vee-ur)
- Yolanda (yo-LAHN-da)
- Zeke (zeek)
