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THE NAME GAME
Hurricanes are named by the WMO, or the World Meteorological Organization. Every year, hurricanes of Categories 1-5 and tropical storms are named. Tropical depressions are just "Tropical Depression One", "Tropical Depression Two", and so on.
There are six lists of names and every year a new list is used to name the hurricanes. So, hurricanes names are repeated. Unless they are deadly or cause major damage. In that case, they are taken off the list and replaced. That is called retirement. Female names are used for the first hurricane of the year during the odd years (1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, etc.). Tropical storms, not tropical depressions or tropical cyclones, are named by scientists.
Hurricanes are scientificly called tropical cyclones, but throughout the world, they are called many different things. Hurricanes in the Philippines are called baygo, but in the Eastern Pacific Oceans, the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Gulf of Mexico, they are called hurricanes. In the Western Pacific Oceans, they are called typhoons, and in the Southern Pacific Oceans and the Indian Ocean they are called cyclones. The word "hurricane" is usually used in the North Atlantic Oceans, the Northeast Pacific Oceans, the central North Pacific Oceans, and the Caribbean.
Typhoons, hurricanes, and cyclonic storms are very similar. One of the differences is that typhoons are usually a little bit bigger than hurricanes. Another is that cyclones, typhoons, and hurricanes all form in different places.
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