(BIVN) – “Dora” has been retired from the rotating list of names used for hurricanes in the eastern North Pacific basin.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Hurricane Committee decided to retire Dora “because of sensitivities to the name Dora and the indirect meteorological role it played in the devastating wildfires in Maui, Hawaii, in August 2023.” The name Dora was previously retired from the Atlantic basin name list in 1964, the WMO noted.

The WMO wrote:

Dora was a long-lived hurricane that reached category 4 intensity while it traversed portions of the eastern and central Pacific basins. Dora crossed the International Dateline, becoming a typhoon, before it weakened and reached the western portion of the Pacific.

Image from NWS National Hurricane Center

The hurricane passed south of the Hawaiian Islands on 8 August and reached the International Dateline on 12 August, becoming a rare tropical cyclone to have travelled across all three of the tropical cyclone basins of the Pacific Ocean and only the second to do so as a hurricane (the previous was Hurricane John in 1994).

There were no reports of damage or casualties directly caused by Dora. However, Dora was indirectly linked to the catastrophic wildfires in Maui, Hawaii. There were some indications that Dora’s passage to the south enhanced the low-level trade winds which fanned the deadly flames across the Hawaiian Islands.

Photo showing Maui fire damage (courtesy Office of the Governor)

The death toll from the Maui fires reached 101, and the island is still suffering from the after-effects of the disaster.

Also retired from the list was the name “Otis” due to the deadly landfall Hurricane Otis made in the Mexican resort city of Acapulco in October 2023.

Taking the place of the retired names Otis and Dora will be the names of Otilio and Debora. The names are repeated every six years, unless a storm is so deadly that its name is retired, WMO says.

For the first time since 2014, the WMO Committee did not retire any Atlantic basin names.

The WMO Hurricane Committee meeting was held in Panama. The committee consists of experts from National Meteorological and Hydrological Services and represents North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Portugal and Spain participated at the meeting as observers, the report says.

“The work of the Hurricane Committee is critical to ensuring that everyone in the region across the Atlantic and east Pacific basins is ready for the upcoming 2024 hurricane season, and reducing the impacts to life and property from these dangerous storms,” said Dr Michael Brennan, Chair of the Hurricane Committee and Director of the Regional Meteorological Specialized Center Miami.