By Editor-June 1st,2023.
Meteorologists expect this year’s weather in the Caribbean to be fairly typical as far as hurricanes are concerned.
The official NOAA forecast calls for a “near-normal” number of storms in 2023. “NOAA is forecasting a range of 12 to 17 total named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher). Of those, 5 to 9 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including 1 to 4 major hurricanes (category 3, 4 or 5; with winds of 111 mph or higher).”
Typical or not, it only takes one storm to do catastrophic damage – especially if it hits where you live.
The last hurricane to hit St. Kitts and Nevis was Hurricane Irma in 2017, and while a great deal of damage was anticipated, thankfully only two homes were destroyed.
Here are the 21 storm names of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season — with the NHC’s official pronunciations.
Arlene (ar-LEEN), Bret (bret), Cindy (SIN-dee), Don (dahn), Emily (EH-mih-lee), Franklin (FRANK-lin), Gert (gert), Harold (HAIR-uld), Idalia (ee-DAL-ya), Jose (ho-ZAY), Katia (KAH-tyah), Lee (lee), Margot (MAR-go), Nigel (NY-juhl), Ophelia (o-FEEL-ya), Philippe (fee-LEEP), Rina (REE-nuh), Sean (shawn), Tammy (TAM-ee), Vince (vinss), Whitney (WHIT-nee)
Hurricane trivia: storm names alternate between male and female and are recycled every six years unless a storm is particularly deadly or destructive (then its name is retired). There are no storms that start with Q, U, X, Y or Z because of a lack of usable names. This means that names like Queenie, Ursula, Xerxes, Yolanda, and Zacharias will never be used.
St Kitts and Nevis has a detailed hurricane action plan, which can be reviewed here.
