Hurricane Center Runs Out of Storm Names With Arrival of Wanda

(Bloomberg) -- Atlantic hurricane watchers have used up all the official storms names for a second straight year after Subtropical Storm Wanda spun up in the central Atlantic where it shouldn’t pose a threat to land. 

Wanda became the 21st storm of 2021, making this the Atlantic’s third-most active year in records going back to 1851 and the third time all the names on the official storm list have been used. This also occurred last year when a record 30 names were used and in 2005 when 28 were named. 

“Wanda will likely meander on Monday before turning sharply northward or northeastward by the middle of next week,” the U.S. National Hurricane Center said in its forecast.

Top winds on Wanda have reached 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour as it churns in the Atlantic about 935 miles west of the Azores, the hurricane center said Sunday. The storm had its origins in the nor’easter that soaked New York and caused wide-spread power outages in Massachusetts last week. 

The difference between Wanda and a typical tropical storm is structural: A subtropical storm typically has its most intense thunderstorms away from its often cloud-free center. 

In prior years when all the names on the official storm list were used, forecasters turned to the Greek Alphabet. However starting in 2021, a supplemental list of names beginning with Adria will be used if forecasters need them.

Countries in the basin use six lists of 21 names that rotate every year. The names are drawn up and decisions about which will be retired are made by the World Meteorological Organization. A system gets a name when its winds reach 39 miles per hour and it becomes a tropical or subtropical storm.

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