Storm Names

Since 1953, Atlantic tropical storms had been named from lists originated by the National Hurricane Center. They are now maintained and updated through a strict procedure by an international committee of the World Meteorological Organization.

The six lists above are used in rotation and re-cycled every six years, i.e., the 2014 list will be used again in 2020. The only time that there is a change in the list is if a storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for reasons of sensitivity. If that occurs, then at an annual meeting by the WMO committee (called primarily to discuss many other issues) the offending name is stricken from the list and another name is selected to replace it. Several names have been retired since the lists were created. Here is more information the history of naming tropical cyclones and retired names.

If a storm forms in the off-season, it will take the next name in the list based on the current calendar date. For example, if a tropical cyclone formed on December 28th, it would take the name from the previous season's list of names. If a storm formed in February, it would be named from the subsequent season's list of names.

2020 Arthur

Start Date:	16 May 2020
End Date:	16 May 2020
Pressure Min:	991
Wind Speed Max:	51
Storm Category:

Description:
Tropical Storm Arthur was a relatively strong off-season tropical storm that impacted the U.S state of North Carolina in May 2020. The first depression and first named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, Arthur marked the record sixth consecutive year in the Atlantic basin with an early start before June. It was one of two off-season storms in the season, alongside short-lived Tropical Storm Bertha. Originating from a broad trough that formed on May 14 near Cuba, the early system slowly drifted south of Florida through the Florida Strait for two days, before becoming a depression on May 16 north of The Bahamas, starting the Atlantic season. A day later, the system would be named Arthur and slowly drift north towards the Outer Banks of North Carolina, before skirting the same area and weakening as it moved towards Bermuda.

In its formative stages, Arthur delivered heavy rainfall to the Florida Keys and South Florida, and also caused rough surf off the majority off the east coast of Florida. The system's outer bands would also begin to cause significant rainfall and gusty winds off the Outer Banks of North Carolina, as well as rip currents along the majority of the Southeastern Coast.

In the event that more than twenty-one named tropical cyclones occur in the Atlantic basin in a season, additional storms will take names from the Greek alphabet.