What happens if we reach the end of the 2023 hurricane name list amid ‘above normal’ season?

Long road to recovery after Hurricane Idalia

The Horseshoe Beach community in Florida is on the road to a long recovery after homes were completely washed away and destroyed during Hurricane Idalia. The community is about 60 miles south of where the storm made landfall.

Tropical Storm Philippe formed Saturday, marking the 16th named storm of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season.

With just over two months left of the hurricane season, there's a likely chance we will see the remaining five names slated for 2023 to be used since the National Hurricane Center predicted "above normal" activity this year. Especially since the NHC is tracking two more disturbances this week.

When the 21st and final name of 2023 – Whitney – is used, any additional storms will be named from a list curated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in lieu of the Greek alphabet, a system started in 2021 to avoid confusion with similar-sounding storm names, according to FOX Weather. In 2020, there was a record-setting 30 storms – nine of which were named from the Greek alphabet.