There are actually six lists of names in use for storms in the Atlantic. These lists rotate, one each year; the list of this year's names will not be reused until 2013. The names get recycled each time the list comes up, with one exception: storms so devastating that reusing the name is inappropriate. In this case, the name is taken off the list and another name is used to replace it; there will not be another Hurricane Andrew, because Andrew has been replace by Alex on the list. The lists contain names that begin from A to W, but exclude names that begin with a "Q" or "U.

A storm must start as a Tropical Depression and move on to become a Tropical Storm before it is given a name. Once a storm is named, preparations for the possible hurricane should be well under way. Here is the list of hurricane names for 2008;  Each name will be changed to a highlighted background  when the storm is no longer active or no longer poses a threat to our area. 

1.	Arthur	First storm of the season formed one day before the June 1st hurricane season began, making landfall at the Belize-Mexico border
2.	Bertha	Named 7/3 - as of 7/17 Hurricane Bertha is losing strength and heading out to open Atlantic waters.
3.	Cristobal	Named 7/19 as Tropical Storm - brought rain and rough seas to North Carolina Coast, but is expected to weaken and head back into the Atlantic.
4.	Dolly	Named 7/19 as Tropical Storm - made landfall 7/23 on Texas/Mexico border near Brownsville and South Padre Island as a Category 2 hurricane.  Levees a concern along with torrential rains and heavy winds.
5.	Edouard	Named 8/3 as Tropical Storm. Made landfall 8/4 as a TS in the Galveston Tx. area.  Heavy rains; 65mph winds; no serious damage to the area.
6.	Fay	Named August 15th - as Tropical Storm. Tuesday  8/19 Fay made landfall on the west coast of Fl. near Marco Island as a TS.  Heavy rains, moderate winds; no major damage.  8/22 TS Fay continues to produce extremely heavy rains across Central Fl and is expected to affect the Fl panhandle or possibly Ga. or Al. or enter the Gulf of Mexico. Models unable to predict exact track at this time.
7.	Gustav	Named August 25th - as Tropical Storm. Expected track to continue south of Cuba and into the Gulf of Mexico then WNW path. Storm made landfall 9/1 west of New Orleans with devastating floods and wind.  No levees were compromised during this storm. Downgraded to Tropical Depression.
8.	Hanna	Named August 28th - as Tropical Storm - Computer tracks shows Hanna moving west, then north with possible impact to the coast of Georgia and/or the Carolina's.
9.	Ike	Named September 1st as a Tropical Storm updated to Hurricane on September 3rd currently tracking WNW. Expected to make landfall 9/13 along Texas coast (Galveston) with extreme storm surge and flooding.
10.	Josephine	Named September 3rd as Tropical Storm current expected track to continue WNW. No exact tract pinpointed at this time. Weakened and conditions not favorable to re-strengthen.
11.	Kyle	Named September 25th as a TS.  Expected path NNW and to strengthen to Hurricane status by 9/27; impact NE US and Nova Scotia during the next couple days with heavy rains.
12.	Laura	Named as TS/Sub-TS on 9/29.  Not expected to affect any land areas, but some threat to shipping interests in the Northern Atlantic as a Sub-Tropical system.
13.	Marco	Named as TS 10/6 - dissipated over Gulf of Mexico
14.	Nana	Named as TS on 10/12 - downgraded 10/13 to a Tropical Depression.
15.	Omar	Named as TS 10/14 - formed in the Caribbean. Intensified to Cat 3 Hurricane on 10/16 and expected to impact U.S. and British Virgin Islands and then remain in open Atlantic with no threat other than to shipping interests.
16.	Paloma	Named as TS 11/6 - formed in the Caribbean-expected to intensify. Intensified to Hurricane 11/7 - Cat. 4 and impacted Cuba as a Cat. 3.  Expected to weaken and head into the Atlantic.
17.	Rene
18.	Sally
19.	Teddy
20.	Vicky
21.	Wilfred

What happens if we run out of hurricane names? If we're unlucky enough, as we were in 2005, to deplete the year's supply of names we won't, contrary to popular opinion, simply start using names from next year's list. In that case, the National Hurricane Center will turn to the Greek alphabet and we'll have Hurricanes Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, etc.