Hurricane Rita is now a category 4 hurricane.

As to the question about the frequency of storms this year, I found this interesting & informative exchange on this Tuesday Sept. 20th 2005 dailykos diary Hurricane Rita To Reach Cat. 3 Within Hours



"...what is the highest letter in the alphabet that was reached in any one season (for naming hurricanes)?.
It seems like R is getting way up there.
by highacidity" on Tue Sep 20th, 2005


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"Rita is the 17th of the 21 names available this year. 1933 holds the record for Atlantic storms. They had 21 but this was before they were named. So we are getting close to a record. FYI - They use the Greek alphabet if we get a 5th storm after Rita. Alpha, beta, gamma, delta, etc.."
by MattR on Tue Sep 20th, 2005



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"The letter T I believe is the highest previous letter reached. (Don't know the name or year off the top of my head, sorry!) 1933 had 21 tropical depressions, but they weren't named. This year is likely to match that and then some. Once they get through the twenty-one names, the Greek alphabet is used to name the storms".
by moira977 on Tue Sep 20th, 2005



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"Looked it up - T is for Tanya in 1995.
by moira977 on Tue Sep 20th, 2005

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"Why 21?

Why don't they use all 26 letters of the alphabet when they create the list of names for the year?"
by ethans mom on Tue Sep 20th, 2005

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"There are not enough X-names, Z-names, etc. So they say."
by mapantsula on Tue Sep 20th, 2005

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"There are 6 sets of names that they rotate through, removing names of storms that cause massive damage" .
by MattR on Tue Sep 20th, 2005

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It is my hope & prayer that Hurricane Rita won't cause any loss of life or massive damage.

To all those who live in that area, please be safe!


Azizi