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Hurricane names are chosen each year by the World Meteorological Organization. When a hurricane is particularly destructive, the name of that hurricane is permanently retired and another is chosen to take its place.

This naming system was begun by forecasters in 1950 and by 1953 the alphabetic name system was in place. But it was not until 1979 that hurricanes acquired male names as well as Spanish and French names. The difference between a tropical storm and a hurricane is wind speed: a tropical storm (winds up to 39 mph) becomes a hurricane when the strength of the winds reach 75 mph.

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