THE ROSTER OF storm names for the upcoming winter season has been revealed by Met Éireann.
The Irish meteorological service and its counterparts in the UK and the Netherlands worked together to compile the list and help raise awareness of the impacts of severe weather.
Met Éireann and the UK Met Office began the initiative in 2014 and they were joined by the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) in 2019.
The three weather services compile the list of names based on public suggestions. This year’s list features the distinctive Irish names Cillian, Íde and Ruadhán along with several other names that are popular in Ireland.
This year, the first storm will be male and named Antoni, while the second will be female and named Betty – following the alternating male-female pattern established by the US National Hurricane Center in the 1970s.
Here’s the full list:
Storms are named when they could cause ‘medium’ or ‘high’ impacts in one of the three partner countries. Meteorologists say the naming practice helps provide consistent and authoritative messaging in times of severe weather.
The weather service that’s expected to be hit hardest by the severe weather is granted the right to name the storm from the predetermined list.
This is generally done in conjunction with the issuing of Orange or Red weather warnings. These warnings could be for wind, rain or snow or a combination of these.
Other groups in Europe also name storms and the agreed practice is that when any national weather service names a weather system all other weather services keep that name.
Ex-hurricanes that cross the Atlantic Ocean also retain the name they are given by the US National Hurricane Center in Miami – as happened with Ophelia in October 2017.
In line with international conventions, storms beginning with the letters Q, U, X, Y and Z are not used, while controversial names – such as those of public figures – are also not included.
Met Éireann’s Evelyn Cusack said storm naming is a very important tool in national weather services’ warnings arsenal.
“The annual unveiling of the new storm names on the 1st September creates greater public awareness and, crucially, during the winter when a storm is named for its potential Orange/Red impacts, it creates a more impactful public ‘call to action’ helping to save lives and property,” Cusack said.
“During past storms, the public have responded positively to the advice given by experts and this new list of names will help us to prepare society for extreme weather events which is all the more important in our changing climate,” she added.
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