Q&A on the News

Q: An article listed hurricane names from 2017 and 2005 that were retired. Can you list all names that have been retired? —Marcia Sasser, Marietta A: The names Irma, Harvey, Maria and Nate from 2017 were retired from the rotating list of names, the World Meteorological Organization announced last week.

The WMO created a strict procedure in 1950 for the naming and retiring of names for hurricanes in the Atlantic. There is a list of names covering a six-year span, and after the sixth year, the list repeats. But if a hurricane is “particularly deadly or costly,” its name is retired and replaced, the WMO noted.

Here is a list of other retired names:

■ 1954: Carol, Hazel; 1955: Connie, Diane, Ione, Janet; 1957: Audrey

■ 1960: Donna; 1961: Carla, Hattie; 1963: Flora; 1964: Cleo, Dora, Hilda; 1965: Betsy; 1966: Inez; 1967: Beulah; 1968: Edna; 1969: Camille

■ 1970: Celia; 1972: Agnes; 1974: Carmen, Fifi; 1975: Eloise; 1977: Anita; 1979: David, Frederic

■ 1980: Allen; 1983: Alicia; 1985: Elena, Gloria; 1988: Gilbert, Joan; 1989: Hugo

■ 1990: Diana, Klaus; 1991: Bob; 1992: Andrew; 1995: Luis, Marilyn, Opal, Roxanne; 1996: Cesar, Fran, Hortense; 1998: Georges, Mitch; 1999: Floyd, Lenny

■ 2000: Keith; 2001: Allison, Iris, Michelle; 2002: Isidore, Lili; 2003: Fabian, Isabel, Juan; 2004: Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne; 2005: Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan, Wilma; 2007: Dean, Felix, Noel; 2008: Gustav, Ike, Paloma

■ 2010: Igor, Tomas; 2011: Irene; 2012: Sandy; 2013: Ingrid; 2015: Erika, Joaquin; 2016: Matthew, Otto

Q&A on the News runs Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Fast Copy News Service wrote this column; Maggie Scruggs contributed. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).