The WMO Hurricane Committee has retired the names Beryl, Helene and Milton from its Atlantic basin name list and John from the eastern Pacific basin name list because of the death and destruction these storms caused in 2024.
Hurricane Beryl was the earliest Atlantic basin Category-5 hurricane on record, with major impacts in the Caribbean. Hurricanes Helene and Milton caused catastrophic damage in the United States. Hurricane John triggered deadly and extended flooding in the Mexican state of Guerrero.
The names Brianna, Holly and Miguel were selected as replacements in the Atlantic basin and Jake in the eastern Pacific. The lists of names, which are overseen by WMO , help in the communication of storm warnings and to alert people about potentially life-threatening risks. The names are repeated every six years, unless a storm is so deadly that its name is retired.
The naming convention - whilst attracting the most public attention - is only a small part of the life-saving work of the Hurricane Committee, which consists of experts from National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and represents North America, Central America and the Caribbean (WMO Regional Association IV).
"The work of the Hurricane Committee is critical to ensuring that everyone in the region across the Atlantic and east Pacific basins is ready for the upcoming 2025 hurricane season, providing early warnings for all and reducing the impacts to life and property from these dangerous storms," said Michael Brennan, Chair of the Hurricane Committee and Director of the Regional Meteorological Specialized Center Miami.
"Since 1978, the WMO Hurricane Committee has served as a vital platform for operational collaboration and partnership. Thanks to your dedication, we have saved countless lives and averted many millions of dollars in economic losses. However, it only takes one landfalling hurricane to undermine years of development. Whilst the USA bears the biggest outright economic losses, Small Island Developing States and fragile economies suffer disproportionately," said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo in a video message to the meeting in San Salvador, El Salvador.
In addition to retiring and replacing hurricane names, the committee updated the Region IV Hurricane Operational Plan, which included an update to the issuance criteria for Potential Tropical Cyclone advisories, allowing the issuance of those forecasts from RSMC Miami up to 72 hours before impacts. That will provide even greater lead time ahead of systems that are expected to develop into a tropical storm or hurricane and impact land.
The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season was the ninth successive season with above average activity, whilst the eastern Pacific season was below average.
The Atlantic basin saw 18 named storms in 2024. Eleven of those were hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or greater) and five intensified to major hurricanes of category 3, 4 or 5 on the Saffir Simpson scale, with winds of 178 kmh/111 mph or higher, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) .
Between 1970 and 2021, tropical cyclones (the generic term which includes hurricanes) were the leading cause of both reported human and economic losses worldwide, accounting for more than 2 000 disasters, according to the WMO Atlas of Mortality and Economic Losses from Weather, Climate and Water-related Hazards.
Early warnings by the WMO community and improved disaster risk management have dramatically reduced fatalities, but economic losses are rising. This is why tropical cyclones are one of the main priorities for the international Early Warnings For All initiative .
