Today marks the beginning of May which means we are 31 days away from the beginning of the 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season. It's important to note that June 1st is when the calendar says the Hurricane Season starts, sometimes Mother Nature jumps the gun and we get a named storm before June 1st. It's happened more than a few times over the past few years.

Hurricane Laura
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Of course, those "jump the gun" starts to the hurricane season were in years when forecasters had predicted above-average hurricane activity. This year the forecast for the season appears to be leaning in the direction of below average. For those of us who call the Gulf South home, that would be just fine and dandy.

We are actually in the midst of National Hurricane Preparedness week and now is the time that those who truly like to be ahead of the storm to do things like check the fuel in the generator. They actually crank the generator and make sure it will run. They investigate the supplies in the "hurricane kit". And, now wouldn't be a bad time to review your insurance policy too. You've probably heard that flood insurance is a lot higher this year, but you don't want to go through a storm season without it, right?

Outer Beaches Realty via YouTube
Outer Beaches Realty via YouTube
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Now is also the time to check and see if your name "made the list". You know the list of hurricane names the National Hurricane Center will use when tropical systems reach the tropical storm threshold and need to be called something. Chances are if you've been watching the tropics for more than a few years you'll recognize some of the names as repeats.

The World Meteorological Organization comes up with a list of names for each year's storms. That list repeats every six seasons. Should a storm be found to be particularly damaging or destructive that name is retired from the list. The last time this list of names was used was in 2017. From that season four storm names were retired. Those storms were Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Nate.

Live Storm Media via YouTube
Live Storm Media via YouTube
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Now for the revamped list for 2023. Look and see if your name is on the list. If it is hopefully your name won't forever be associated with death and destruction.

The 2023 Hurricane season will open with Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Don, and Emily. That takes us through the first five named storms. Then will come Franklin, Gert, Harold, Idalia, and Jose. That rounds out the first ten names.

Up next on the tropical storm naming list are Katia, Lee, Margot, Nigel, and Ophelia. That takes us to storm number 15. By the way, the forecasters at Colorado State in their 2023 Hurricane Season forecast say we shouldn't make it past Margot, but just in case we do. The remaining names are Phillippe, Rina, Sean, Tammy, Vince, and Whitney. There are no storms that have a name that starts with "X or Z".

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By the way, the official outlook for the 2023 Hurricane Season from NOAA is scheduled to be released in just a few weeks. We'll see how that compares with some of the other preseason forecasts. Let's hope it's a quiet season.

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