The 'Last Melissa': Why This Name Likely Won't Be Used For A Future Hurricane Or Tropical Storm

Jamaica Forever Changed: Harsh Before And After

Melissa will likely not be used to name a future Atlantic hurricane or tropical storm again after its historic, catastrophic landfall in Jamaica and its impacts elsewhere in the Caribbean.

How Naming Works

Names for Atlantic and Eastern Pacific tropical storms and hurricanes typically repeat every six years.

So, in 2031, we'll likely see names such as Andrea, Chantal and Fernand used again for Atlantic storms and hurricanes.

Retirement

How awkward, confusing and insensitive would it be if there was another "Hurricane Melissa" in 2031 or 2037?

Imagine if we called another storm Andrew, Katrina, Sandy, Ian or Helene after each of those legendary storms.

That's like letting another New England Patriots quarterback wear Tom Brady's number 12, or another Los Angeles Laker wear Magic Johnson's number 32.

This is why storms that are particularly deadly and/or devastating usually have their names retired from future use. This is typically done each spring during the annual meeting of the World Meteorological Organization's Hurricane Committee.

Among the committee's many tasks, its members vote on which storm names from the past year deserve to be retired and what names will replace the newly retired names.

Ironclad Case

The committee's decision to retire Melissa should be straightforward.

Category 5 Melissa was not only the most intense Jamaica landfall on record, but tied for the most intense landfall on record anywhere in the Atlantic Basin, according to preliminary data.

"Early indications are that Hurricane Melissa was a disaster of unprecedented catastrophe for the island" of Jamaica, Alexander Pendry, the British Red Cross Global Response Manager, said the day after Melissa on Oct. 29.

Four hospitals were among the likely hundreds of damaged structures in Jamaica.

Flooding in Haiti had already claimed over two dozen lives.

Cuba's President Miguel Díaz-Canel said the island has seen "extensive damage" from Melissa.

Many Retirees Recently

This "hall of infamy" has 99 names retired since the naming of Atlantic tropical cyclones ditched the phonetic alphabet in 1953. We have the full list in a slideshow and more perspective in a previous piece here.

Over the past 10 years, 20 Atlantic Basin names have been retired.

Most recently, Beryl, Helene and Milton were retired after the 2024 hurricane season. In addition to Milton, four other "M" storms have been retired since 2015, including 2016's Matthew, 2017's Maria and 2018's Michael.

Melissa joined the rotating list after 2001's Hurricane Michelle pummeled western Cuba at Category 4 intensity, the nation's strongest hurricane since 1952.

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.