With the first tropical cyclone of 2018 potentially on the horizon for the Eastern Pacific basin, I thought it would be a good time to review the names that will be used this season in the basin. Just like the Atlantic basin, the Eastern Pacific has six rotating name lists that alternate between male and female names. There is one significant exception, however: the Eastern Pacific has names that start with X, Y and Z that alternate in odd and even years.

This is List IV of the 6 rotating Eastern Pacific naming lists. This is the exact same naming list used in the fairly active 2012 Pacific hurricane season, in which no names were retired.

The Eastern Pacific averages 15 named storms, 8 hurricanes, and 4 major hurricanes a year. This is slightly more active than the Atlantic basin. The 2018 Pacific hurricane season officially begins on May 15, but as noted above, it’s very possible we could see Aletta form before the season officially starts.

Here are the names and their pronunciations:

• Aletta (a-LET-ah)
• Bud (buhd)
• Carlotta (kar-LOT-uh)
• Daniel (DAN-yuhl)
• Emilia (eh-MILL-ya)
• Fabio (FAH-bee-o)
• Gilma (GIL-mah)
• Hector (HEHK-tor)
• Ileana (il-ay-AH-nah)
• John (jahn)
• Kristy (KRIS-tee)
• Lane (layne)
• Miriam (MEER-ee-uhm)
• Norman (NOR-muhn)
• Olivia (oh-LEEV-ee-uh)
• Paul (pall)
• Rosa (ROH-zuh)
• Sergio (SIR-gee-oh)
• Tara (TAIR-uh)
• Vicente (vee-CEN-tay)
• Willa (WIH-lah)
• Xavier (ZAY-vee-ur)
• Yolanda (yo-LAHN-da)
• Zeke (zeek)