The World Meteorological Organization's hurricane committee announced that due to their destructive legacy, the names Erika and Joaquin will no longer be used for future tropical storms or hurricanes in the Atlantic, while the name Patricia will no longer be used for hurricanes in the eastern North Pacific. All three storms occurred in 2015.
Now, come the 2021 hurricane season when the 2015 list is reused, Erika will be replaced with Elsa, Joaquin with Julian and Patricia with Pamela.
Under usual circumstances, the WMO reuses storm names every six years for both the Atlantic and eastern North Pacific basins, unless they're retired because the storm was so deadly or costly that the future use of the name would be insensitive. In this case, all three hurricanes fit that bill. None of them struck the United States, but other countries weren't as lucky.
Tropical Storm Erika was initially forecast to be a Category 1 hurricane with Palm Beach County, Fla., in its path, but fizzled in the Florida Straits. However, it produced torrential rains that inflicted significant casualties and damage to the Caribbean island of Dominica and produced mudslides in Haiti. More than a foot of rain fell in Dominica, causing 30 deaths. Meanwhile, in Haiti, a mudslide that occurred after Erika had dissipated as a tropical cyclone left one person dead.
Hurricane Joaquin, a powerful Category 4 storm, formed in late September and lashed out at the central and southeast Bahamas islands. It took the lives of 34 people, including 33 crew members of the cargo ship El Faro, which sank northeast of Crooked Island.
The storm, which intensified at an unexpected rate, also devastated Crooked Island, Acklins, Long Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador in the central and southeastern Bahamas. Last year's iteration of the storm now holds the record of being the strongest October hurricane to affect the Bahamas since 1866.
Lastly, Hurricane Patricia, a late October storm, had winds that were measured at 215 mph. It became a Category 5 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale) just 24 hours after initially being forecast as a Category 1 storm - something that was both unprecedented and a nightmare for those who were involved.
It might have been listed as a Category 5 storm at the time - and was actually the strongest, most intense, hurricane on record, even beating out 2005's Hurricane Wilma in intensity - but it was actually well beyond the magnitude of a Category 5. There was even some speculation over whether it should be categorized as a Category 6 storm.
Patricia is the 13th name to be removed from the eastern North Pacific list, while Erika and Joaquin are the 79th and 80th name to be removed from the Atlantic list.
Check out more about the historical background behind hurricane naming HERE.
