At a Glance

There are 21 names on the regular lists of Atlantic hurricane season names.A supplemental list will be used for seasons that exceed that number of names in a year.Three more storms would have to form for this list to be used in the 2023 season.

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The Atlantic hurricane season has been busier than average in 2023 and two storm names remain, so what happens if we exhaust the entire list?

Each season has a regular list of 21 names to use: Those regular lists are used every six years unless a storm name is retired because it was so damaging and/or deadly.

So far, we've used each name on this year's list from Arlene to Tammy. The next two names for any additional storms that form are Vince and Whitney.

(​MORE: Does El Niño Typically Help End Hurricane Season Early?)

2023 Named Storm Tracks Through Oct. 22

Here's what happens if we get a third named storm before the 2023 season concludes: A supplemental list of names is used for seasons that exhaust their regular list of 21 names. The first name that will be used on that supplemental list is Adria.

This supplemental list of names was created by World Meteorological Organization prior to the 2021 hurricane season.

(​MORE: Study Says Hurricanes Now Twice As Likely To Rapidly Intensify)

Supplemental Atlantic Hurricane Season Names List

The supplemental names haven't been used before, but the Greek alphabet has: This supplemental list of names was created following the hyperactive 2020 hurricane season.

That season used the Greek alphabet for nine storm names after running through its entire regular list by mid-September. The Greek alphabet was the original method for naming storms if a season ran over 21 names.

The Greek alphabet was withdrawn from use after the 2020 season. It was used only one other time in the record-smashing 2005 season.

Confusion with similar-sounding Greek alphabet letters and their translation into other languages were a couple of the reasons for abandoning the Greek alphabet, .

W​ill the supplemental list of names be used this year?: Hurricane season activity typically drops off sharply in late October and November, but each season is different.

Early November is the average time when hurricane season has had its last named storm form since the use of satellites began in 1966. But seasons have ended much earlier and even later than the official last hurricane season day of Nov. 30.

T​he season's next to last named storm has formed by Oct. 25 and the final storm has developed by Nov. 19, from NOAA.

S​o tapping into that supplemental list this year isn't impossible, but we'd have to see a more active than average finish to the season.

Since 1966, the last storm has usually formed in October or November. I​n four hurricane seasons, the final storm formed in September, most recently in 2006. H​owever, in six hurricane seasons, the final storm formed in December, including a New Year's Eve storm, Zeta, during the record-smashing 2005 hurricane season.

(Data: NOAA)

Chris Dolce has been a senior meteorologist with weather.com for over 10 years after beginning his career with The Weather Channel in the early 2000s.

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