There has been a surprising amount of interest in Central Pacific tropical cyclone names recently, due entirely to Hurricane Walaka.

When a tropical depression strengthens into a tropical storm, it’s given a name determined by it’s location.  (I touched on this process earlier before Walaka developed.)  When a tropical storm develops in the Central Pacific basin, it’s given a Hawaiian name.  The list of names was reviewed in 2007 in collaboration with, at the time, the Hawaiian Studies Department at the University of Hawaii.  (They have since become the University’s newest college, the Hawai’inuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge.)  The list was reviewed and updated “to ensure the correct meaning and appropriate historical and cultural use of each Hawaiian name on the list.  Sixteen names were changed as a result of this collaboration.”

The attention related to “Walaka” seems to revolve around the question, “what does it mean?”  The first time I encountered this sort of question was in 2014 with Hurricane Ana.  A caller had asked what “Ana” meant and our Director of Operations at the time simply said “It’s a name.”  That didn’t really satisfy the person on the phone, and the pattern has held through Walaka as well.

The purpose of naming hurricanes is to give everyone an easy, common way to refer to them when there are multiple ones at the same time.  It also helps after the fact.  This season has been troublesome enough; I’d hate to go through it saying things like, “Do you mean the flooding from the hurricane or the flooding from the tropical storm?  No, the high surf was from the other hurricane.”  Compare that with, “Do you mean the flooding from Lane or from Olivia?  No, the high surf was from Hector.”

On a side note, when you give emergency management briefings on six different hurricanes over the course of six weeks, most of them for days on end, you realize how easy it is to mix up names.  I have a new understanding and empathy for the litany my mom ran through when trying to yell at me:  “Terry!  Bandit!  John!”  (Yes, our dog rated higher than I did.)

So what does Walaka mean?  Just as Tom said in 2014, it’s a name.  Even if some of the other names on the list have object meanings, they’re still names.  Even if I’m not referring to a thorny flower, I can still say that a Rose is a Rose is a Rose is a… oh, you get the idea; here’s the full list.  But, if you still can’t let it go, Walaka is equivalent to the English “Wallace” or “Walter”.