How hurricanes get their names

Storm naming is actually maintained by an international group of meteorologists.

ByABC News
September 6, 2017, 3:32 PM

— -- As Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm, begins battering the Caribbean, you may wonder how hurricanes get their names.

Storm naming is actually maintained by an international group of meteorologists known as the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

PHOTO: This image obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Irma, Sept. 2, 2017, at 1130 UTC.
This image obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Irma, Sept. 2, 2017, at 1130 UTC. Irma picked up strength and has become an "extremely dangerous" Category Five hurricane as it approached the Caribbean on Sept. 5, 2017, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center reported.
AFP/Getty Images

The organization's experts meet annually to discuss hurricanes. They also decide when to retire the names of the costliest and deadliest hurricanes, such as Katrina, Rita and Matthew.

A list of the retired names dating back to 1954 is listed here.

Homes knocked off their foundations following the storm surge produced by Hurricane Sandy, Nov. 3, 2012, Brick Beach, N.J.
Julie Dermansky/Corbis via Getty Images

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