There are 21 names on the official hurricane season list this year, but we call our big storms along the Pacific Northwest coast cyclones, not hurricanes. That’s namely because the temperature of our Pacific Ocean is much cooler than that of the Atlantic.
You probably haven’t stopped to think about it but I sure did: why don’t our cyclones get some of those fancy human names like hurricanes do?
Cyclones Don’t Get Any of Those Fancy Hurricane Names
Remember the Bomb Cyclone of 2023 and 2024? I remember people making so many funny memes about it, it was ridiculous. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) only refers to our big Pacific Ocean cyclones as “bomb”; that’s because when a winter cyclone storm’s pressure suddenly drops within a 24-hour period, the result feels like a bomb of rain, snow, and hurricane-force winds.
Meanwhile, the Atlantic Ocean hurricanes get fancy human names.
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Lookout for More Potential Weather Mayhem This Year
As if we didn’t have enough to worry about with tsunami warnings, bomb cyclones, snowpocalypses, and “the big one”, which is the earthquake that’s supposed to happen any day now, we have to deal with wildfires and summer heatwaves.
Washington’s Brutal Summer Heat Makes EV Cars Grumpy
By the way, did you know heatwaves can make your electric vehicle car grumpy? Know before you buy!