(WGHP) – The World Meteorological Organization’s Hurricane Committee has retired Fiona and Ian from the rotating lists of Atlantic hurricane names due to the death and destruction they caused during the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season. 

Fiona will be replaced with Farrah in the list of names and Idris will replace Ian. 

The hurricane names are used to help communicate storm warnings and to alert people about potentially life threatening risks. In the Atlantic basin, the names are repeated every six years, unless a storm is so deadly that its name is retired. 

A total of 96 names have now been retired from the Atlantic basin list since 1953, when storms began to be named under the current system. 

Hurricane Fiona 

Fiona was a large hurricane that impacted the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Turks and Caicos before moving northward over the western Atlantic and striking Canada in September 2022. 

The storm brought catastrophic freshwater flooding to Puerto Rico where it made landfall as a category 1 hurricane. 

Fiona produced over 3 billion dollars in damage across the Caribbean and Canada and was responsible for 29 fatalities. Fiona is the costliest extreme weather event on record in Atlantic Canada. 

Hurricane Ian 

Ian was a powerful category 4 hurricane that struck western Cuba as a major hurricane and made landfall in southwestern Florida as a category 4 hurricane. 

Ian caused a devastating storm surge in southwestern Florida, especially the Fort Myers area, and is responsible for over 150 deaths. 

The destructive hurricane caused over 112 billion dollars in damage in the United States, making it the costliest hurricane in Florida’s history and the third costliest in the United States. 

2022 Atlantic hurricane season

The 2022 Atlantic hurricane season produced 14 named storms with winds of 39 mph or greater, eight of which became hurricanes with winds of 74 mph or greater. 

Two intensified to major hurricanes, Fiona and Ian, with winds more than 111 mph. 

An average Atlantic hurricane season has 14 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes. The 2022 season was near-normal and was significantly quieter than the 2020 and 2021 hurricane seasons. 

The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season officially begins June 1 and will last through November 30.