Met Éireann releases storm names for the 2023/24 season
- Foilsithe: 1 Meán Fómhair 2023
- An t-eolas is déanaí: 14 Meán Fómhair 2023
Met Éireann, along with the national weather services of the UK (Met Office) and the Netherlands (KNMI), has released the list of new storm names for the 2023/2024 storm season, which starts on Friday 1 September.
Storms are named when they could cause ‘medium’ or ‘high’ impacts in one of the three partner countries. This enables consistent, authoritative messaging to support the public to prepare for, and stay safe during potentially severe weather events.
Each of the three meteorological services contributed seven names to this season’s list. Met Éireann chose names of eminent Irish/Northern-Irish scientists, to honour their important contributions to science and benefits for humankind.
The full 2023/24 list is:
- Agnes
- Babet
- Ciarán
- Debi
- Elin
- Fergus
- Gerrit
- Henk
- Isha
- Jocelyn
- Kathleen
- Lilian
- Minnie
- Nicholas
- Olga
- Piet
- Regina
- Stuart
- Tamiko
- Vincent
- Walid
(The names chosen by Met Éireann are in bold and information on the scientists they honour can be found below. The letters Q, U, X, Y, Z are not included, which is in line with the US National Hurricane Centre naming convention).
When a storm is forecast the national weather service that expects the biggest impact from the severe weather to hit its region names the storm. Storm naming happens in conjunction with orange/red weather warnings, which could be for wind, rain or snow or a combination of these conditions. Those warnings are issued based on a combination of numerical criteria and the potential impacts foreseen.
Eoin Sherlock, Head of Forecasting Division in Met Éireann, emphasised:
"Storm naming is an important asset in our warnings arsenal and makes severe weather communications clearer and more effective. It connects our weather services more closely to the public, helping us in our mission to protect lives and property and ensuring the safety of our communities.
"We are delighted to celebrate science and scientists in this year’s names. As part of our process we asked the public to choose the name for letter “A”, resulting in Agnes, after Irish astronomer and science writer Agnes Mary Clerke. Our warmest thanks to all who voted and to those who suggested other names that we will keep in mind for future seasons.
"As we move in to storm season, we advise people to prepare now for possible severe weather events. We echo public safety advice to “Be Winter Ready”. You can find the latest forecasts and warnings in met.ie and Met Éireann’s app.”
The letter “J” this year is named by Met Éireann after Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell, the brilliant astrophysicist who discovered the first pulsating radio stars (or pulsars) in 1967. She has led a distinguished career in research and teaching, with an emphasis on empowering women in physics.
Reacting to the announcement of the new storm names list, Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell said:
“I am delighted to feature in this distinguished list celebrating science and hope that if a potential “Storm Jocelyn” happens, it may be a useful stirring-up rather than a destructive event! Science advancements increase our knowledge and understanding of the world around us, and I think this is wonderful example of science-based services communications.”
Since 2015, Met Éireann and the UK Met Office have been working together on the naming programme and were joined by the Netherlands’ KMNI in 2019.
UK Met Office Head of Situational Awareness Will Lang said:
“This is the ninth year of us naming storms and we do it because it works. Naming storms helps to ease communication of severe weather and provides clarity when people could be impacted by the weather. This year, it’s great to be able to recognise the collaborative efforts of some of our partners across the UK with the inclusion of names from some UK partner organisations. Working across different agencies allows us to help as many people as possible be prepared for severe weather."
KNMI Senior Forecaster and Team Manager Jos Diepeveen mentioned:
“Naming the storms helps to raise awareness when severe and extreme weather is approaching. Through recognizable names, we hope to reach as many people as possible with our warning before the weather strikes. For this year’s KNMI input, we have asked visitors during our open day last October for suggestions. Visitor Babet filled in her own name: ‘Because I was born during a storm’."
Other National Meteorological Service groups in the US and Europe also name storms. When any National Met Service names a weather system, all others keep that name. This includes ex-hurricanes named by the US National Hurricane Center such as Charley (25 August 1986) and Ophelia (16 October 2017), which had major impacts in Ireland when they crossed the Atlantic.
Further information
About Met Éireann
Met Éireann, the National Meteorological Service, monitors, analyses and predicts Ireland's weather and climate, supporting Irish society and decision-makers with world-class weather, climate and flood services. Met Éireann does this to protect life and property, and to promote wider societal and economic wellbeing.
Met Éireann is Ireland’s National Meteorological Service as maintained by the State under the UN Convention of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). Its vision is: ‘Making Ireland weather and climate prepared - helping Irish society to be ready for and responsive to weather and climate challenges.'
Storm names and scientists’ details
Agnes: Agnes Mary Clerke: Irish astronomer and science writer. Her best-known work, “A Popular History of Astronomy during the Nineteenth Century” was published in 1885.
Fergus: Fergus O'Rourke: scientist who contributed to myrmecology and medical entomology. Provided an authoritative description of Irish ants and an early consideration of the importance of ants as disease vectors.
Jocelyn: Jocelyn Bell Burnell: Northern Ireland astrophysicist, who discovered the first pulsating radio stars, or pulsars in 1967.
Kathleen: Kathleen ‘Kay’ McNulty Mauchly Antonelli: one of the mothers of computer programming.
Kathleen Lonsdale: Irish crystallographer, demonstrated the crystal structure of benzene.
Lilian: Lilian Bland: Anglo-Irish journalist and pioneer aviator, the first woman in Ireland to build and fly an aircraft, and quite possibly the world’s first woman to build her own airplane, the Bland Mayfly.
Nicholas: Nicholas Callan: physicist, invented the induction coil that was used in early telegraphy and is still being used in some electronic devices today.
Vincent: Vincent Barry: organic chemistry, best known for leading the team which developed the anti-leprosy drug clofazimine.
There are plenty of other Irish scientists’ worth remembering who haven’t been included in this year list, as there is a maximum number of names assigned per Met Service. Met Éireann respects, honours and is grateful for all Irish contributions to science and technology.
For more information on storm names and past storms, go to Storm Centre and Major Weather Events.
About warnings
Weather warnings issued by Met Éireann are based on a combination on numerical criteria for wind, rain, temperature, and the potential impacts of the foreseen hazardous conditions.
Met Éireann’s app and website have a 3-day tab map displaying all warnings, which could be issued up to three days ahead. This allows clearer communication and understanding of the complex weather scenarios which can affect Ireland, especially in winter.
The Met Éireann app provides an option to subscribe to receive push notifications of weather warnings for a chosen county, selected counties or all counties.
Met Éireann also offers a subscription for weather warnings emails, via https://www.met.ie/warnings/login.
The ‘warnings’ page on met.ie and the app also features warnings for Northern Ireland, whenever they are issued by UK Met Office. This provides a clear, authoritative one-stop shop for easy and reliable access to the latest weather warnings for the island of Ireland.
Warning explanations can be found here: https://www.met.ie/weather-warnings.
About impacts of storms/severe weather
The timing and location of extreme weather occurrences can significantly affect the impact it may have on society and/or the economy.
In any individual weather event, not every location within a warning area may experience the same degree of weather or impacts.
When severe weather is expected, weather and impacts at lower levels are also likely to be experienced. The type and amount of impacts can be strongly affected by previous weather conditions. Met Éireann takes into consideration the forecasted conditions and thresholds as well as previous weather conditions that may increase the level of impact expected for particular areas when issuing a warning.
Get the latest forecast under severe weather conditions
For the most accurate and up to date forecast for your area on the Island of Ireland go to www.met.ie.
Warnings - For the latest weather advisories and warnings for Ireland go to: https://www.met.ie/warnings/today.
These services and much more are available on our free Met Éireann app – available from the App Store for iPhone and from Play Store for Android.
Follow Met Éireann on Twitter and Facebook for extra weather and climate content.
Listen to the latest national forecast on our daily podcast (updated three times a day, also on Twitter).
Be Winter Ready
During quiet autumn weather it is prudent to prepare for possible winter storms and severe weather: “Be Prepared, Stay Safe and know where to find help should you need it.”
Go to www.winterready.ie.