Tropical Storm Alpha (2005) - Naming and Records

Naming and Records

Since all the twenty one predetermined hurricane names were exhausted after Hurricane Wilma, the Greek alphabet was used and the storm was designated Alpha once it reached tropical storm status. The name Alpha had been used before in the Atlantic for a subtropical storm, but 2005 was the first season to have a tropical storm Alpha.

At the time it was thought that Alpha was the twenty-second storm of the season, and so was the storm which broke the 1933 season's record for most storms in a single season. However post-season analysis revealed that there was also a previously unnoticed subtropical storm on October 4, which made Alpha the twenty-third storm of the season. Alpha was the first tropical storm to be assigned a Greek-alphabet name after the list of hurricane names was exhausted.