Wilfred was the last name on the 2020 storm list, so…… what’s next?
As of the 11am 9/18 update, Tropical Storm Wilfred formed in the Atlantic. It doesn’t look like it’s going to develop much, but that’s not the real issue here.
Wilfred was the last name on the list. It’s only September 18th and we used them all. And it looks like we’ll have another named storm by as soon as this afternoon. TD 22 is almost a tropical storm. Update: Alpha has formed near Portugal.
Never fear, there’s a plan. Once forecasters reach a storm past Wilfred, they will begin to use names based on the Greek alphabet, beginning with Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta. There’s 24 letters in the Greek alphabet. This has happened once before, in 2005. That year, meteorologists used six Greek names in the hurricane season, which had 28 storms.
Early next week, it looks like Texas may see a Hurricane Beta.
If somehow we use all 24 letters of the Greek alphabet after Wilfred, well, I can’t imagine what that would be like.
Here’s a look at some of the damage done by Sally this week: