The National Hurricane Center (NHC) near Miami, Florida, keeps a constant watch on oceanic storm-breeding areas for tropical disturbances which may herald the formation of a hurricane. If a disturbance intensifies into a tropical storm with rotatory circulation and wind speeds about 39 miles per hour, NHC will give the storm a name from one of the six lists below. A separate set is used each year beginning with the first name in the set. Once a set of names has been used for a season, that list will not be used again for another six years. The 1996 set, for example, will be used again to name storms in the year 2002. The letters Q, U, X, Y, and Z are not included because of the scarcity of names beginning with those letters. When a major storm makes landfall and is associated with grave economic impact, the name is retired.
The name lists have an international flavor because hurricanes affect many nations and are tracked by the public and weather services of countries other than the United States. Names for these lists are selected from library sources and agreed upon by nations involved during international meetings of the World Meteorological Organization.
| 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arthur | Ana | Alex | Arlene | Alberto | Allison |
| Bertha | Bill | Bonnie | Bret | Beryl | Barry |
| Cesar | Claudette | Charley | Cindy | Chris | Chantal |
| Dolly | Danny | Danielle | Dennis | Debby | Dean |
| Edouard | Erika | Earl | Emily | Ernesto | Erin |
| Fran | Fabian | Frances | Floyd | Florence | Felix |
| Gustav | Grace | Georges | Gert | Gordon | Gabrielle |
| Hortense | Henri | Hermine | Harvey | Helene | Humberto |
| Isodore | Isabel | Ivan | Irene | Isaac | Iris |
| Josephine | Juan | Jeane | Jose | Joyce | Jerry |
| Kyle | Katc | Karl | Katrina | Keith | Karen |
| Lili | Larry | Lisa | Lenny | Leslie | Lorenzo |
| Marco | Mindy | Mitch | Maria | Michael | Michelle |
| Nana | Nicholas | Nicole | Nate | Nadine | Noel |
| Omar | Odette | Otto | Ophelia | Oscar | Olga |
| Paloma | Peter | Paula | Phillippe | Patty | Pablo |
| Rene | Rose | Richard | Rita | Raphael | Rebekah |
| Sally | Sam | Shary | Stan | Sandy | Sebastien |
| Teddy | Teresa | Tomas | Tammy | Tony | Tanya |
| Vicky | Victor | Virginie | Vince | Valeric | Van |
| Wilfred | Wanda | Walter | Wilma | William | Wendy |