CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Six months and one day after devastating Southwest Florida, “Ian” has officially been retired. From the 2022 hurricane season, "Fiona" was also officially retired, never to be used again in the rotating list of hurricane names.
The World Meteorological Organization comprised of 193 countries and territories made that decision in a meeting on Wednesday, March 29th, held in Costa Rica.
Hurricane names are retired and never used again when a storm is so deadly or costly that it would be insensitive to use the name again.
Fiona produced over $3 billion in damage across the Caribbean and Canada and was responsible for 29 direct and indirect fatalities. Fiona is the costliest extreme weather event on record in Atlantic Canada.
Ian was a large and powerful category 4 hurricane that struck western Cuba as a major hurricane and made landfall in Southwest Florida as a category 4 hurricane.
Ian caused more than $112 billion in damage in the United States, making it the costliest hurricane in Florida’s history and the third costliest in the United States. Ian claimed 149 lives, 72 of those in Lee County.
So, where do these names come from? There are six lists of names that rotate over the course of six years. When a name is retired, the name is replaced by another name that begins with the same letter.
For example, Irma, which struck in 2017, has been replaced by Idalia, which will be used in the 2023 season.
Idris and Farrah will be used for the retired names in 2028.
In total, the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season produced 14 named storms,the average in any given season. As we all know, 2022 was anything but "average" for Southwest Florida. The Fox 4 Weather Team is working on the 2023 season outlook and will have it for you later in April.
