Are such names considered more fierce, more threatening or more dangerous by the general populace? Apparently not so.

According to the National Hurricane Centre in Miami, Florida, names are selected based on two criteria -- their length and international appeal.

"Experience shows that the use of short, distinctive given names in written, as well as spoken communications is quicker and less subject to error than the older, more cumbersome latitude-longitude identification methods. These advantages are especially important in exchanging detailed storm information between hundreds of widely scattered airports, stations, coastal bases and ships at sea.

"The use of easily remembered names greatly reduces confusion when two or more tropical storms occur at the same time. For example, one hurricane can be moving slowly westward in the Gulf of Mexico, while at exactly the same time, another hurricane can be moving rapidly northward along the Atlantic coast. In the past, confusion and false rumours have arisen when storm advisories broadcast from one radio station were mistaken for warnings concerning an entirely different storm located hundreds of miles away.'' Hurricanes in the West Indies were first named after the particular saint's day on which the storm occurred, according to Ivan R. Tannehill in his book, Hurricanes . In 1825, `Santa Ana' struck Puerto Rico with exceptional violence, in 1876 it was San Felipe and in 1928, San Felipe the second.

It was just before the end of the 19th Century that hurricanes were given women's names. According to Mr. Tannehill, the practice was started by Clement Wagge, an Australian meteorologist. During World War II, using women's names became widespread in weather map discussions among forecasters, especially Air Force and Navy meteorologists who plotted the movements of storms over the Pacific Ocean.

In 1953, the United States abandoned as confusing, a two-year-old plan to name storms by a phonetic alphabet (Able, Baker, Charlie etc.), when a new, international phonetic alphabet was introduced. It was in that year, that American weather services began using female names.

The practice of naming hurricanes solely after women ended in 1978 when men's and women's names were included in the Eastern North Pacific storm lists. In 1979, male and female names were included in lists for the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.

In the regions of the North Atlantic, Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, tropical disturbances are named if they intensify so that they achieve a rotary circulation and wind speeds above 39 miles per hour. Names chosen have an international flavour because hurricanes affect other nations and are tracked by the public and weather services of countries other than the US.

Names are selected from library sources and agreed upon by nations involved during international meetings of the World Meteorological Worldly appeal flavour because hurricanes affect other nations are tracked by the public and weather services of countries other than the US. Names are selected from library sources and agreed upon by nations involved during international meetings of the World Meteorological Organisation. A separate list of names is used each year beginning with the first. Six separate lists have been selected and, after all have been used, will be used again. The list of names for 1996 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. In the instance of a major landfalling storm having a major economic impact on an area, the name used is retired. THE SIX-YEAR LIST OF NAMES FOR ATLANTIC STORMS 1996 Arthur Bertha Cesar Dolly Edouard Fran Gustav Hortense Isidore Josephine Kyle Lili Marco Nana Omar Paloma Rene Sally Teddy Vicky Wilfred 1997 Ana Bill Claudette Danny Erika Fabian Grace Henri Isabel Juan Kate Larry Mindy Nicholas Odette Peter Rose Sam Teresa Victor Wanda 1998 Alex Bonnie Charley Danielle Earl Frances Georges Hermine Ivan Jeanne Karl Lisa Mitch Nicole Otto Paula Richard Shary Tomas Virginie Walter 1999 Arlene Bret Cindy Dennis Emily Floyd Gert Harvey Irene Jose Katrina Lenny Maria Nate Ophelia Philippe Rita Stan Tammy Vince Wilma 2000 Alberto Beryl Chris Debby Ernesto Florence Gordon Helene Isaac Joyce Keith Leslie Michael Nadine Oscar Patty Rafael Sandy Tony Valerie William 2001 Allison Barry Chantal Dean Erin Felix Gabrielle Humberto Iris Jerry Karen Lorenzo Michelle Noel Olga Pablo Rebekah Sebastien Tanya Van Wendy HURRICANES SUPPLEMENT HUR