With Ian on its way, what other names might SC see for hurricane season 2022? Is yours on the list?

Patrick McCreless
NOAA/National Hurricane Center

As Ian, the season’s latest hurricane, barrels toward Florida and possibly South Carolina, have you wondered how the storm got its name?

It turns out forecasters already have all the names set for any potential storms this hurricane season.

The National Hurricane Center released its official list of hurricane names for the 2022 Atlantic season shortly before it began in June. The hurricane season lasts through Nov. 30.

According to the latest forecast from AccuWeather, as of 8 a.m. Monday, Ian had sustained winds of up to 75 mph and was moving northwest at 14 mph. Accuweather forecasters say that the storm should only grow stronger in the coming days and could become a Cat 4 in the Gulf of Mexico later this week.

So far, South Carolina is predicted to see rainfall from the hurricane of between 2 inches and 8 inches of rain, mainly between Thursday and Saturday.

Ian is the fourth named hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic season. There’s also been several named tropical storms this year. All the storm names used so far this year include: Alex, Bonnie, Colin, Danielle, Earl, Fiona, Gaston and Hermine.

Here are the potential hurricane names left on the list for this season.

  • Julia

  • Karl

  • Lisa

  • Martin

  • Nicole

  • Owen

  • Paula

  • Richard

  • Shary

  • Tobias

  • Virginie

  • Walter

Hurricane names are used in rotation and recycled every six years. Many of the names in 2022 will be used again in 2028.

However, sometimes named storms gain enough notoriety for the damage and death they cause that their names are permanently removed from the list.

Tropical storms get a name when they display a rotating circulation pattern and wind speeds reach 39 mph. A tropical storm develops becomes a hurricane when wind speeds exceed 74 mph.

The World Meteorological Organization maintains and updates the names of Atlantic tropical storms. Hurricane names picked use only 21 letters of the alphabet because there are few names that start with Q, U, X, Z and Y. Also, English, Spanish and French names are all used to reflect geographical coverage of Atlantic and Caribbean storms.

According to the South Carolina Emergency Management Division, South Carolina is one of the most vulnerable states to hurricanes and tropical storms all throughout the season.

For ways on how the SCEMD recommends you prepare for the new hurricane season, click here.

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