They start over with A, and change the alternation (boy/girl) to whatever it wasn't. That's my guess.

The really scary part is that I've read somewhere that we're the in the first few years of what "some scientists believe" is a 25-year cycle.

Scott, I've read about that 25-year cycle. Obviously, I can't rebut (or affirm) it scientifically, but I will simply observe that the most amusing thing we humans do is issue such predictions.

"If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans."

Eric, according to a report on National Public Radio this morning, "In the event that more than 21 named tropical cyclones occur , additional storms will take names from the Greek alphabet, starting with Alpha, Beta and Gamma."

I checked the NOAA website at http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames.shtml , and they said pretty much the same thing.

Excellent research, Jeff...I have no idea why that single paragraph is omitted from so many other sites devoted to storm names.

I hated it when the WMO decided to be politically correct in naming hurricanes.

These tantrums of Mother Nature are surely feminine?

And YES I am a feminist, but guy names for storms just seems wimpy...no Jolly Roger worth his grog would agree to pen his name to a hurricane...

Yeah, I'd be embarassed to file an insurance claim detailing how all my stuff was trashed by "Stan." (I have this vision of the skinny half of Laurel & Hardy.)

Maybe they could go to the WWF for inspiration. A hurricane named "The Rock" might garner a bit more respect.

After Z (probably Zach or something) comes AA, which the only one I can think of is Aaron. Then comes BB, which I can't think of. After Hurricane Aaron, any other storm should remain unnamed. Maybe when the hurricane realizes that it is unnamed, it would just circle around in the Atlantic as a result of an identity crisis.

Maybe when the hurricane realizes that it is unnamed, it would just circle around in the Atlantic as a result of an identity crisis.

Bbert (ooh...there's one, right there!), you may be onto something. At the very least, we need to think about letting the hurricanes name themselves; perhaps we're just really annoying them by slapping our own arbitrary labels onto them. Perhaps Rita is really Ryan.

I was onto this twelve days ago.

Not that I can count, or anything.

It looks like Jeff scooped me! :D
(tip o' the hat to Jeff)

The WMO could make a bundle by auctioning the opportunity to name destructive storms.

Heaven forbid the WWF should get even more coverage than it already doesn't deserve. Yesterday, I was trying to find a good image of the theatrical one sheet for "The Ultimate Warrior" (with Yul Brynner).

It took several passes to weed out all the shots of the idiot pro-wrestler with the same name.

There's a pro wrestler going by the name of Yul Brynner? Kewwwwl! ;-)

Touché!

I should make more of an effort to remember you're a better writer than I am and you spot those inaccuracies!

Just funnin' you, of course. It wouldn't be any fun if you weren't a good writer who invariably pays attention to such details! ;-)

Now that the hurricanes are named for both boys and girls, I'm surprised no one has demanded equal time for "ethnic sounding" names--Saddam,
Mohammed, Carlito...uh-oh, that's another WWF name! I see a pattern here.
;-)

I'm pretty sad that you haven't discussed the names I've suggested for next year. Better have a look at YBN from last week. I've offered to let the Hurricane namers use my q, u, x, y and z names this year. You can thank Shelia Jackson Lee for my thoughtfulness.

Deb, your suggestion has actually been implemented, sort of. A few years ago, the committee responsible for naming these storms did explicitly change their guidelines to start including names of Spanish origin for the storms originating in the Atlantic, presumably because of the size of the Spanish-speaking population in the region.

I'm sure that Al Qaeda would love to get some Arabic names into the queue...they're taking credit (on Allah's behalf) for the storms anyway! ;-)

Just in case you can't find my post, I'll share the names I came up with. They're dandy.

Antwaan, Bivion, Chartric, DeMond, Edgerrin, Flozell, Gonorleathia, Ja'Qua, Kalimba, LaKeisha, MarTay, Nefertiti, Orlandrus, Perjetta, Quantel, Ranethea, Shameeka, Toderick, Uniqua, Vondel, Wanya, Xezavium, YaSheema, Zenobia.

I think if we get to Zenobia, we won't have a gulf coast left to enjoy.

Julie, what I'd like to know is how you got hold of MISD's enrollment records. ;-)

I'm glad to see that many people are putting significant thought into this pressing issue...