• Topics
  • Tropical Storms
  • United States
  • World War II (1939-1945)
Frank Roylance Sun Reporter // Weather Blogger

May 29, 2009
The 2009 Atlantic hurricane season begins Monday. The first named storms will be Ana, then Bill. Military forecasters during World War II were first to give female names routinely to tropical storms in the Atlantic and the Gulf. In 1953, the U.S. adopted the practice, alternating with male names beginning in 1979. The 21-name alphabetical lists omit Q, U, X, Y and Z, and they repeat every six years.


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