Hurricane Name Change?

[Larry J. Kosch]

Currently we have a hurricane ALEX that has made landfall into Mexico just south of the US-Mexico border. It appears to be heading west thru Mexico. If it keeps on track, it will re-emerge over Pacific waters. It will have tropical storm status, unless the rough Mexico terrain tears it down to a low depression.

My question is: When a named tropical storm/hurricane comes out of the Gulf of Mexico (ALEX) reemerges into Pacific waters and gain tropical storm strength, will it keep its current name? Or will it be given another name on the Pacific hurricane list?

I seems to remember there were a couple of storms that went thru the above secnario and had their names changed.

Anybody know of any storms in the past that changed names??

 

[NickSeyour]

I think there have been a few. I can't really think of any right now but other Stormtrack members will likely be able to help you.

 

[rdale]

No name change.

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/B5.html

 

[Karla Dorman]

I was thinnking there would be a re-named storm, but I'm not sure. I think rdale has it right. (Thank you, rdale.)

 

[Jason McKittrick]

I am not so sure about that, I suppose things could have change but I'm pretty confident that they rename the storm when it re-imerges in the Pacific. Perhaps someone in the NWS could clarify the policy.

 

[rdale]

Perhaps someone in the NWS could clarify the policy.

Click the link again That is from the National Hurricane Center, and since they are the one who determine naming conventions, that would be an official answer.

 

[cdcollura]

Good day all,

I remember back in 1988 a tropical system (Joan I think), crossed over Central America from the Atlantic / Caribbean and became "Miriam" in the Eastern Pacific.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Joan%E2%80%93Miriam

As for Alex, I highly doubt it will last very much longer because of the mountains.

 

[Zach Young]

Alex will NOT survive Mexico's terrain. Central Mexico has an elevation of 7,000-15,000 feet, and is fairly arid. Even if it tracked further north closer to the border where the terrain is a little less rugged, it would dissipate because of the amount of time it spends over land in mountainous desert. The northern track wouldn't redevelop because the sea-surface temps that far north are quite cool (which is the reason LA never gets hit). Honestly, I'm quite impressed with how well Alex has managed to hold it together so far, but cloud tops are warming rapidly, and I expect it will dissipate sometime today or tonight.

The only area where a tropical cyclone is likely to survive into a new basin is much further south, closer to Central America. Even there, storms have to contend with high mountains which can easily tear a storm to shreds.