One name left on the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season list. What happens if we run out?

The 2020 Atlantic Hurricane season has been one for the record books. It’s been so active that we are about to run out of names.

We are barely past the halfway point of the season and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) is left with only one name remaining on the 2020 Atlantic hurricane list: Wilfred. 

Although there are 26 letters in the English alphabet, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) does not use names that begin with the letters Q, U, X, Y or Z because there simply aren’t enough names that begin with these letters.  

So what happens if storms continue to form in the Atlantic after Wilfred is used? The National Hurricane Center moves onto the Greek alphabet to name the storms.

This has only happened one other time in history. In 2005, six letters from the Greek alphabet were used.