Ida officially retired, Imani will replace it in 2027

The 2021 hurricane season was a busy one! Out of the 21 named storms (7 which became hurricanes), Hurricane Ida was the most catastrophic and deadly. These are the reasons that the World Meteorological Organization decided to retire the name its rotation list.

There were other storms such as Elsa and Grace that also caused numerous deaths and endless devastation. These names were not retired.

Elsa was a hurricane as it entered the Caribbean, but its first landfall was as a tropical storm in Cuba and then again as a tropical storm in northern Florida. Although the storm weakened as it moved over the Southeast then the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, the system became an extratropical storm just east of Massachusetts causing major damage across the New England and southeastern Canada due to the strong winds. Grace made landfall 2 times in Mexico, first near Tulum and then as a major category 3 hurricane in Veracruz.

Storm names are retired because of the death and destruction it caused. The list rotates every 6 years and since there will not be Ida in 2027, Imani will take its spot.

Names are retired so that there is less confusion if two storms, with the same name, were to cause major destruction. This is especially important as one storm could affect several countries, it also helps with clear communication and coordination.

Since the storms started getting named in 1953, there have been 94 names retired from the Atlantic season.

Hurricane season officially starts for the Atlantic Basic on June 1. But remember that in the last 7 years, there have been storms forming as early as January (Alex 2016), so this is the time to prepare and to start monitoring the tropics closely.