Hurricane Harvey. Hurricane Irma. Hurricane Sandy. The names for tropical storms might sound cutesy, but they’re not random.

哈維颶風。厄瑪颶風。桑迪颶風。熱帶風暴的名字聽起來很可愛，但它們可不是隨機取的。

Originally, hurricanes in the West Indies were named after the saint’s day when the storm hit, according to the NOAA. For instance, there have been two Hurricane San Felipes in Puerto Rico—one that hit on September 13, 1876, and another that same date in 1928.

據NOAA的消息，最初西印度群島的颶風都是在圣日來襲的，所以人們就以颶風來襲那天圣日的名字來命名颶風。比如，在波多黎各就有兩個叫圣菲利普斯的颶風，一個是發生在1876年9月13日，另一個發生在1928年的同一日期。

By the 1900s, an Australian meteorologist started a new system. Instead of naming hurricanes after saints, he started using women’s names, and the United States followed suit in 1953. By 1979, men’s names were added to the mix. So how do meteorologists pick which name to use?

到了20世紀，一個澳大利亞的氣象學家發明了新的命名方法。他不再用圣人的名字命名颶風，而是開始使用女性的名字。美國從1953年開始也如此效仿。到了1979年，男性的名字也被加入了其中。那么，氣象學家是如何選擇用哪個名字的呢?

The World Meteorological Organization comes up with a list of names way before the storms hit. The group has six lists with 21 names each—one for every letter except Q, U, X, Y, and Z—to be used each year in the Atlantic. So some of the next Atlantic hurricane names you can expect to see are Katia, Lee, Maria, and Ophelia.

早在風暴來臨之前，世界氣象組織就已經列出了一份風暴名字的名單。每年給大西洋上颶風命名的名單分成六組，每組里面各有21個名字，除了Q, U, X, Y, Z以外的每個字母擁有一個以它開頭的名字。所以，我們可以預見的接下來發生在大西洋的颶風的會叫卡提亞、李、瑪麗亞和歐菲利亞。

The West coast gets its names from six different lists, which include every letter except Q and U. Every time a tropical storm hits, meteorologists take the names alphabetically down that year’s list. Some of the names for Eastern North Pacific hurricanes this year are: Hilary, Irwin, Jova and Kenneth. (If you live in a storm-prone area, learn how to prepare your house for a hurricane.)

西海岸颶風從六個不同的姓名列表中獲得名字，除了Q和u以外的每一個字母擁有一個以它開頭的名字。每當熱帶風暴來臨，氣象學家就會在當年名單上按字母順序取名。今年太平洋東北部來襲的颶風里會出現這些名字:希拉里、歐文、喬瓦和肯尼斯。(如果你生活在一個風暴頻發的地方，學習如何為室內抵御颶風做準備。)

Once six years go by, the naming starts again with the first list. For instance, the first Atlantic’s first tropical storm was Hurricane Arlene, and that will be the name for the first hurricane in 2024, too. If there happens to be more than 21 tropical storms in one year (or 24 in the Pacific), the rest will come from the Greek alphabet, starting with Alpha and going down to Omega.

一旦六年過去之后，命名就會再次從第一個列表重新開始。例如，第一大西洋的第一場熱帶風暴是颶風阿琳，這也將是2024年第一場颶風的名字。如果在一年之內發生超過21次熱帶風暴(對于太平洋地區來說是24次)，其余名字的將從希臘字母當中取，從阿爾法開始，一直到歐米加。

Now that the lists are established, it’s hard to change the names on them. The lists only change if there’s a particularly bad storm, which is why you won’t be seeing another Hurricane Katrina or Sandy in the future. The World Meteorological Organization decides if it will take any names off the list during its annual meeting, so no word yet on whether Harvey will make the cut for future storms.

因為命名列表的存在，一般很難再去更改列表上的名字。只有一種情況下，名單會有變化，就是遇到特別嚴重的風暴時。這就是我們在未來不會再聽到其他颶風叫卡特里娜或者桑迪的原因。世界氣象組織在年度會議上決定是否要從名單上刪掉任何名字，因此目前還沒有關于哈維這個名字是否會從未來風暴名單上刪除的消息。

Hurricane Harvey. Hurricane Irma. Hurricane Sandy. The names for tropical storms might sound cutesy, but they’re not random.

哈維颶風。厄瑪颶風。桑迪颶風。熱帶風暴的名字聽起來很可愛，但它們可不是隨機取的。

Originally, hurricanes in the West Indies were named after the saint’s day when the storm hit, according to the NOAA. For instance, there have been two Hurricane San Felipes in Puerto Rico—one that hit on September 13, 1876, and another that same date in 1928.

據NOAA的消息，最初西印度群島的颶風都是在圣日來襲的，所以人們就以颶風來襲那天圣日的名字來命名颶風。比如，在波多黎各就有兩個叫圣菲利普斯的颶風，一個是發生在1876年9月13日，另一個發生在1928年的同一日期。

By the 1900s, an Australian meteorologist started a new system. Instead of naming hurricanes after saints, he started using women’s names, and the United States followed suit in 1953. By 1979, men’s names were added to the mix. So how do meteorologists pick which name to use?

到了20世紀，一個澳大利亞的氣象學家發明了新的命名方法。他不再用圣人的名字命名颶風，而是開始使用女性的名字。美國從1953年開始也如此效仿。到了1979年，男性的名字也被加入了其中。那么，氣象學家是如何選擇用哪個名字的呢?

The World Meteorological Organization comes up with a list of names way before the storms hit. The group has six lists with 21 names each—one for every letter except Q, U, X, Y, and Z—to be used each year in the Atlantic. So some of the next Atlantic hurricane names you can expect to see are Katia, Lee, Maria, and Ophelia.

早在風暴來臨之前，世界氣象組織就已經列出了一份風暴名字的名單。每年給大西洋上颶風命名的名單分成六組，每組里面各有21個名字，除了Q, U, X, Y, Z以外的每個字母擁有一個以它開頭的名字。所以，我們可以預見的接下來發生在大西洋的颶風的會叫卡提亞、李、瑪麗亞和歐菲利亞。

The West coast gets its names from six different lists, which include every letter except Q and U. Every time a tropical storm hits, meteorologists take the names alphabetically down that year’s list. Some of the names for Eastern North Pacific hurricanes this year are: Hilary, Irwin, Jova and Kenneth. (If you live in a storm-prone area, learn how to prepare your house for a hurricane.)

西海岸颶風從六個不同的姓名列表中獲得名字，除了Q和u以外的每一個字母擁有一個以它開頭的名字。每當熱帶風暴來臨，氣象學家就會在當年名單上按字母順序取名。今年太平洋東北部來襲的颶風里會出現這些名字:希拉里、歐文、喬瓦和肯尼斯。(如果你生活在一個風暴頻發的地方，學習如何為室內抵御颶風做準備。)

Once six years go by, the naming starts again with the first list. For instance, the first Atlantic’s first tropical storm was Hurricane Arlene, and that will be the name for the first hurricane in 2024, too. If there happens to be more than 21 tropical storms in one year (or 24 in the Pacific), the rest will come from the Greek alphabet, starting with Alpha and going down to Omega.

一旦六年過去之后，命名就會再次從第一個列表重新開始。例如，第一大西洋的第一場熱帶風暴是颶風阿琳，這也將是2024年第一場颶風的名字。如果在一年之內發生超過21次熱帶風暴(對于太平洋地區來說是24次)，其余名字的將從希臘字母當中取，從阿爾法開始，一直到歐米加。

Now that the lists are established, it’s hard to change the names on them. The lists only change if there’s a particularly bad storm, which is why you won’t be seeing another Hurricane Katrina or Sandy in the future. The World Meteorological Organization decides if it will take any names off the list during its annual meeting, so no word yet on whether Harvey will make the cut for future storms.

因為命名列表的存在，一般很難再去更改列表上的名字。只有一種情況下，名單會有變化，就是遇到特別嚴重的風暴時。這就是我們在未來不會再聽到其他颶風叫卡特里娜或者桑迪的原因。世界氣象組織在年度會議上決定是否要從名單上刪掉任何名字，因此目前還沒有關于哈維這個名字是否會從未來風暴名單上刪除的消息。