“Chris” in the Tropical Atlantic

Hurricane Chris in the northeast Atlantic in 2012  (Source: NOAA)

Tropical storms and hurricanes are assigned names by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).  The WMO has a total of six lists that include names from the languages of the countries and territories that are most affected and which rotate on a six-year cycle.  For example, the 2018 list of names was last used in 2012 and this year’s list will next be used in 2024.

The one exception is if a tropical storm or hurricane is exceptionally destructive or deadly, then the WMO retires the name.  The name “Andrew” was retired following the 1992 hurricane season and was replaced in 1998 with “Alex.”  

A type of tropical disturbance known as a “tropical depression,” becomes a tropical storm and is given a name when sustained winds around the center of the system reach 39 mph.  Currently, there is a tropical depression situated off the East Coast of the United States near North and South Carolina.  If it becomes a tropical storm as expected, then it will be named “Chris.”  There have been a total of six “Chris” storms in the Atlantic Ocean since the name was introduced in 1982.

The strongest storm named Chris occurred in 2012.  It became a Category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 85 mph and a minimum central pressure of 974 millibars (mb).  Chris was also a minimal hurricane in 1994 with sustained winds of 80 mph and a minimum air pressure of 979 mb.  Air pressure is considered a more accurate measure of hurricane intensity than wind speed and the lower the pressure, the stronger the storm tends to be.  That’s because a lag sometimes occurs between changes in air pressure and winds speeds of intensifying and weakening tropical systems.

Hurricanes Chris in 2012 and 1994 didn’t impact the United States.  However, in 1982 Tropical Storm Chris made landfall in Texas and caused flooding as far inland as Tennessee and Kentucky, as well as several tornadoes.  There was also a Tropical Storm Chris that made landfall near Savannah, Georgia in 1988 and led to flooding in parts of the southeast.  That was after it caused flooding and three fatalities in Puerto Rico.  The friction caused between the landfall of a rotating tropical system and the interaction with a land mass often spawns tornadoes.  

The majority of named storms that form early in the season tend to be weaker than those that develop in August and September when conditions are more favorable.  There are exceptions, however, like Hurricane Audrey in 1957 that remains June’s strongest hurricane on record in the Atlantic Ocean Basin.  “Chris” is now poised to become a tropical storm for a seventh time within the next 24 to 48 hours.