The 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season has been rather active. So active that we just had Hurricane Zeta. I’ve heard from a good number of folks asking “We made it to the end of the Greek Alphabet… Now what do we name these things?”
The good news is, we haven’t made it to the end of the Greek Alphabet. Think back to middle school when a lot of us first learned about this stuff. Or, think abck to the Sororities and Fraternities at colleges. That might be easier. There are a TON of those.
And they all use Greek letters.
Greek letter list
Big thanks to the good folks at MIT for helping me remember the English equivalents to some of these. Also, it was quite the pain to remember the keystrokes to make some of these Greek letters appear.
| Greek Caps | Greek Lower | As a word | English equiv |
| Α | α | alpha | a |
| Β | β | beta | b |
| Γ | γ | gamma | g |
| Δ | δ | delta | d |
| Ε | ε | epsilon | e |
| Ζ | ζ | zêta | z |
| Η | η | êta | e |
| Θ | θ | thêta | th |
| Ι | ι | iota | i |
| Κ | κ | kappa | k |
| Λ | λ | lambda | l |
| Μ | μ | mu | m |
| Ν | ν | nu | n |
| Ξ | ξ | xi | x |
| Ο | ο | omikron | o |
| Π | π | pi | p |
| Ρ | ρ | rho | r |
| Σ | σ, ς | sigma | s |
| Τ | τ | tau | t |
| Υ | υ | upsilon | u |
| Φ | φ | phi | f |
| Χ | χ | chi | ch |
| Ψ | ψ | psi | ps |
| Ω | ω | omega | o |
So while we have made it through Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon, and Zeta.
That means next up is Eta. Then Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda, Mu, Nu, Xi, Omicron, Pi, Rho, Sigma, Tau, Upsilon, Phi, Chi, Psi, and finally Omega.
Looking out into the Atlantic, there is another area of possible development.
If it develops, it will be named “Eta.”
And where is Eta going? That is a good question. Right now, it looks like it will get lifted north and taken out to sea by one of the next few cold fronts slated to move through the area. But we will continue to monitor it.
But Nick, what if we DO make it to the end?
This is going to sound like a total cheap move, but… We just go back to Alpha. There isn’t really a contingency plan for running out of Greek letters because the likelihood that it happens is small. Really small. Because, lets be real, if we get through 21 names then 24 letters is anyone really going to care what they are named anymore?
We will be so frustrated and exhausted, we will just be like, “What? Another? What’s it called? Wait, I don’t really care. Help me get the Hurricane Kit back out.”
