These Hurricanes Were So Bad, Their Names Were Retired

Here's the scoop on hurricane names, straight from NOAA:

For Atlantic hurricanes, there is actually one list for each of six years. In other words, one list is repeated every seventh year. The only time that there is a change is if a storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for obvious reasons of sensitivity. If that occurs, then at an annual meeting by the committee (called primarily to discuss many other issues) the offending name is stricken from the list and another name is selected to replace it.

There is an exception to the retirement rule, however. Before 1979, when the first permanent six-year storm name list began, some storm names were simply not used anymore. For example, in 1966, "Fern" was substituted for "Frieda," and no reason was cited.

Below is a list of retired names, in alphabetical order, for hurricanes from the Atlantic Ocean:

Agnes    1972 Alicia    1983 Allen    1980 Allison    2001 Andrew    1992 Anita    1977 Audrey    1957 Betsy    1965 Beulah    1967 Bob    1991 Camille    1969 Carla    1961 Carmen    1974 Carol    1954 Celia    1970 Cesar    1996 Charley    2004 Cleo    1964 Connie    1955 David    1979 Dean    2007 Dennis    2005 Diana    1990 Diane    1955 Donna    1960 Dora    1964 Edna    1968 Elena    1985 Eloise    1975 Fabian    2003 Felix    2007 Fifi    1974 Flora    1963 Floyd    1999 Fran    1996 Frances    2004 Frederic    1979 Georges    1998 Gilbert    1988 Gloria    1985 Gustav    2008 Hattie    1961 Hazel    1954 Hilda    1964 Hortense    1996 Hugo    1989 Igor    2010 Ike    2008 Inez    1966 Ione    1955 Iris    2001 Isabel    2003 Isidore    2002 Ivan    2004 Janet    1955 Jeanne    2004 Joan    1988 Juan    2003 Katrina    2005 Keith    2000 Klaus    1990 Lenny    1999 Lili    2002 Luis    1995 Marilyn    1995 Michelle    2001 Mitch    1998 Noel    2007 Opal    1995 Paloma    2008 Rita    2005 Roxanne    1995 Stan    2005 Tomas    2010 Wilma    2005