History of Hurricane Names; Is the Worst Yet to Come?

"What's in a name?" Juliet asked Romeo in Shakespeare's classic love story. "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

Not so concerning is devastating Katrina and Andrew. Ironically, Rose is on six lists of pre-approved names for tropical disturbances in the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico that are rotated. Rose would make news, but only if there were 17 storms in 2009.

Names of destructive storms like Andrew in '92 and Katrina in '05 have been banished since '54 and were replaced by new names.

From '53 to '78, the U.S. National Weather Service started using female names for storms. Since '79, male and female names have been alternated.

The rotating lists contain names starting with 21 letters in the alphabet, but not Q, U, X, Y and Z. That puzzles me because Xina made the list in '85 and Zeke in '92.

I don't know why the weather wizards avoid "U" because Uma and Ursula are good enough for female movie stars. And Ulysses was just fine for our 18th president.

Hurricanes in the West Indies for centuries were named after Catholic saint days. On Sept. 13, 1876, Hurricane San Felipe struck Puerto Rico. When another hurricane hit the island 50 years later on the same day, it was called San Felipe II.

Then latitude-longitude positions came into vogue, but proved cumbersome. Until the late '40s, only severe storms got names like the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 that killed about 8,000 in Texas.

The most intense storm to hit the United States was the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 that devastated the Florida Keys. The main transportation route linking the area to the mainland was the Florida Overseas Railroad.

The hurricane struck the Upper Keys where more than 700 veterans, part of a government relief program to build a new road bridge, lived in flimsy shacks. Luckily, about 350 were in Miami watching a baseball game.

A 10-car evacuation train sent from Homestead was unable to reach other awaiting veterans and residents before the storm surge and high winds did. Only the locomotive wasn't washed away. The death toll exceeded 400.

In '05, a record 28 storms developed, of which 15 were hurricanes. That exceeded the '69 record of 18 storms, of which a dozen reached hurricane status.

The first U.S. named hurricane (unofficially, of course), was George in '47. Then the next one meriting recognition was Hurricane Bess, probably named for the wife of President Harry Truman, in '49.

The first officially named hurricane was Alice in '53, one of 14 tropical systems that developed in the Atlantic Basin during an active year. It was only one of three times a storm formed before the start of the season on June 1 and after it ends on Nov. 30.

The other periods: 1887 when 19 disturbances formed and in 2005 that saw 16 storms.

There's a chance this year will be No. 4. Tropical Storm Andrea showed up more than three weeks early off Florida's East Coast, but brought little rain and quickly fizzled out after causing beach erosion along the Carolinas.

Tropical Storm Barry, as if on cue, churned up June 1 in the Gulf of Mexico. When it reached Tampa Bay, Barry was downgraded to a tropical depression and at least brought needed rain to Florida en route to the Atlantic.

The latest named storm, Chantal, formed in the Atlantic on July 31 and raced northeastward into open waters. It should vanish near Iceland.

Actually, the recent months have been unusually quiet. But remember Katrina and Andrew, the most costly in our history, developed in August and caused widespread devastation.

The early '07 forecast by hurricane guru William M. Gray, Colorado State University researcher, was 17 named storms, nine hurricanes - and five of those major. He later slightly cut back his expectations.

Gray expected a busy '06 season, but that failed to materialize and no hurricane hit the mainland. Let's hope weather history repeats itself.