Hurricane "SANDY" - Name Retired by WMO....

From: Weather.com

Sandy" will not be used again for any Atlantic named tropical storm or hurricane in the future.

A committee of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has officially retired the name "Sandy", replacing its name in the 2018 list with "Sara".  Storm names typically repeat every six years in both the Atlantic and eastern Pacific basins.

However, when a storm occurs that is particularly deadly and costly so that any future use may confuse the public or is deemed insensitive, a WMO hurricane committee, which includes forecasters from NOAA's National Hurricane Center, retire the name.

"Sandy" becomes the 77th name to be officially retired from the Atlantic list since 1954.  

According to the committee, it was not only Sandy's extreme impacts along the U.S. coast, but also its damage in Jamaica and Cuba, where Sandy briefly strengthened to Category three status.  

"Sandy" is only the second "S" storm to be retired.  The first was "Stan" in 2005, retired due to a massive death toll from inland flash flooding in Mexico and Central America.

In 2013, the names "Dorian", "Fernand", and "Nestor" replace "Dean", "Felix" and "Noel", three retired storms from the 2007 season.  

The 2005 hurricane season, not surprisingly, had the most retirees, with five names.  Several years (2004, 1995, and 1955) had four retired names.  

Other recent "retired" named storms include:

·                 2011:  "Irene"

·                 2010:  "Igor" and "Tomas"

·                 2008:  "Gustav", "Ike", and "Paloma"

·                 2005:  "Dennis", "Katrina", "Rita", "Stan", "Wilma"

The practice of naming tropical cyclones began, in earnest, in 1953 when the U.S. ceased the practice of naming storms by phonetic alphabet.