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 Isaias

Start Date:	30 Jul 2020
End Date:	30 Jul 2020
Pressure Min:	987
Wind Speed Max:	76
Storm Category:

Description:
The National Hurricane Center first began tracking a vigorous tropical wave off the coast of Africa on July 23. The wave gradually organized and became better defined, developing a broad area of low pressure. Though the circulation was broad and disorganized, convection continued to increase over the system. Although the system still lacked a well-defined center, its threat of tropical-storm-force winds to land areas prompted its designation as Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine at 15:00 UTC on July 28. The system moved just south of Dominica on July 29, and at 03:00 UTC on the following day, it organized sufficiently to become a tropical cyclone. Due to its precursor disturbance already having gale-force winds, it was immediately declared a tropical storm and given the name Isaias. On the following day, Isaias continued to move generally northwestward, passing to the south of Puerto Rico and over the eastern portions of Hispaniola, specifically the Dominican Republic. At 03:40 UTC on July 31, Isaias strengthened into a hurricane as it pulled away from the Greater Antilles. The storm fluctuated in intensity afterwards, with winds between 75–85 miles per hour (121–137 km/h) as it fought to withstand the effects of strong wind shear and dry air, with its central pressure falling to 987 millibars (29.1 inHg). At 15:00 UTC on August 1, Isaias made landfall on North Andros, Bahamas with winds around 80 miles per hour (130 km/h), after which the system weakened to a tropical storm at 21:00 UTC. It then turned north-northwest, paralleling the east coast of Florida and Georgia while fluctuating between 65–70 miles per hour (105–113 km/h). As the storm accelerated northeastward and approached the Carolina coastline, wind shear relaxed, allowing the storm to quickly intensify back into a Category 1 hurricane at 00:00 UTC on August 4. At 03:10 UTC, Isaias made landfall on Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, with 1-minute sustained winds of 85 miles per hour (137 km/h). Following landfall, Isaias continued to accelerate and only weakened slowly, dropping below hurricane status at 07:00 UTC over North Carolina.

Numerous tropical storm watches and warnings as well as hurricane watches and hurricane warnings were issued for the Lesser Antilles, Greater Antilles, Bahamas, Cuba, and the East Coast of the United States. Isaias caused devastating flooding and wind damage in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Several towns were left without electricity and drinking water in Puerto Rico, which prompted a disaster declaration by President Donald Trump. In the Dominican Republic, two people were killed by wind damage. A woman was killed in Puerto Rico after being swept away in flood waters. Over 100 tornado warnings were issued during the passage of the storm, including one for Hampton Roads. Two people were killed in Bertie County, North Carolina on August 4 due to a tornado striking a mobile home park. Five more fatalities occurred in St. Mary's County, Maryland; Milford, Delaware; Naugatuck, Connecticut; North Conway, New Hampshire; and New York City due to falling trees. One woman died when her vehicle was swept downstream in a flooded area of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, and a child was found dead in Lansdale, Pennsylvania after going missing during the height of the storm. One man drowned due to strong currents in Cape May, New Jersey.

When Isaias formed as a tropical storm, it became the earliest ninth named storm on record, breaking the record of Hurricane Irene of 2005 by eight days. Its landfall in the U.S. on August 4 also made Isaias the earliest fifth tropical cyclone to make landfall in the United States.

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.