WASHINGTON — Ida has been retired from the list of Atlantic tropical cyclone names because of the devastation and death caused by Hurricane Ida in 2021.
The World Meteorological Organization Hurricane Committee announced Wednesday that Imani will be used in Ida's place moving forward. The names given to tropical storms and hurricanes are repeated every six years, unless a storm is deemed so destructive that its name must be retired. That means Imani will first appear in the 2027 hurricane season list.
Hurricane Ida, which made landfall on Aug. 29, 2021 as a Category 4 storm, caused dozens of deaths and decimated many parts of southeast Louisiana.
In total, 94 names have now been retired from the Atlantic basin list since 1953. Tropical storms and hurricanes that begin with the letter 'I' have had more names retired than any other letter.
Ida is now the twelfth retired 'I' name in the Atlantic basin, the most of any letter. Here is the list in order from oldest to newest:
- Ione (1955)
- Inez (1966)
- Iris (2001)
- Isadore (2002)
- Isabel (2003)
- Ivan (2004)
- Ike (2008)
- Igor (2010)
- Irene (2011)
- Ingrid (2013)
- Irma (2017)
- Ida (2021)
Ida had replaced Isabel who was retired in 2003 because of widespread property damage and an extensive death toll.
Overall, the 2021 hurricane season produced 21 named storms, including seven hurricanes.
Looking ahead to this year, the meteorologists at Colorado State University are predicting a very busy season with 19 named storms, including nine hurricanes and four major hurricanes. The 30-year average is 14 named storms, seven hurricanes, and three major hurricanes.
WCNC, WWL and KHOU contributed to this report.
