Atlantic and eastern Pacific hurricane names for 2011

Hurricanes are also known as typhoons or tropical cyclones. The table shows the World Meteorological Organization’s official list of 2011 hurricane names. Note that male and female names alternate. Names are often reused in future years, with the exception of the names of any particularly violent storms, which are officially “retired” from the list for a long time.

In Mexico, the “official” hurricane season is from May 15 to November 30 each year for Pacific coast storms, and from June 1 to Novemebr 30 for Atlantic storms, though most hurricane activity is concentrated in the months from July to September.

• In which months are hurricanes most likely to strike Mexico?

This year, Philip Klotzbach and William Gray, researchers at Colorado State University, predict that 16 named storms will form in the Atlantic: 7 tropical storms,4 moderate hurricanes (1 or 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale), and 5 severe hurricanes (3, 4 or 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale).

For the Pacific coast, Mexico’s National Meteorological Service (Servicio Metrológico Nacional, SMN) is expecting 17 storms: 7  tropical storms, 6 moderate hurricanes (1 or 2 on the Saffir-Simpson scale), and 4 severe hurricanes (3, 4 or 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale). The SNM publishes regular updates on hurricane activity (in Spanish) on its webpage and via its Twitter account: @huracanconagua.

Previous posts related to hurricane prediction:

• Mexican geophysicists develop new model for hurricane forecasting
• How good were the 2010 hurricane predictions?
• How many hurricanes are likely in the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season?

Hurricanes and other climatic hazards are analyzed in detail in chapter 4 of  Geo-Mexico: the geography and dynamics of modern Mexico.