Wilma is a retired Atlantic hurricane name. The World Meteorological Organization took it off the lists after the 2005 storm, so no future Atlantic storm will be called Wilma. Its place on the list now belongs to Whitney, on the 2029 list. Since 2005, two storms have been named Wilma; the strongest, in 2005, peaked as a Category 5 hurricane.
Yes. Wilma is on NHC’s list of retired Atlantic names because of the 2005 storm. It is one of 100 names retired there since 1954 (Tropical Cyclone Naming History and Retired Names).
A name is retired when a storm was so deadly or costly that using the name again would be insensitive; the World Meteorological Organization then picks a new name with the same first letter at its annual meeting.
It won’t be. Retired names are not used again on the Atlantic lists. Its place on the list, the W slot, now belongs to Whitney, on the 2029 Atlantic list, which is next used in 2029.
Wilma formed in the Southern Hemisphere in January 2011 and peaked as a Category 4 cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph (215 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 937 mb. It did not make landfall. The system was tracked for 11 days.
Cyclone Wilma (2011): track and historyWilma formed in the Atlantic in October 2005 and peaked as a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph (295 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 882 mb. It made 3 landfalls, first near Cozumel, Mexico and last near Marco Island, United States. The system was tracked for 11 days.
Hurricane Wilma (2005): track and history| Storm | Landfall near | Date (UTC) | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wilma 2005 | Cozumel, Mexico | 2005-10-21 21:45 | 150 mph / 240 km/h |
| Wilma 2005 | Playa del Carmen, Mexico | 2005-10-22 03:30 | 130 mph / 215 km/h |
| Wilma 2005 | Marco Island, United States | 2005-10-24 10:30 | 120 mph / 195 km/h |
Names go in alphabetical order, one per storm, as each storm reaches tropical-storm strength (39 mph, 34 knots), so a storm’s place in its season decides its name.
In 2005, Wilma was the 21st name used in the Atlantic season.
Storms named Wilma appear in more than one ocean in our archive:
Each ocean region keeps its own name lists, drawn up by its own WMO regional committee (Tropical cyclone naming), so the same name can be given to unrelated storms in different oceans.
The most recent was Cyclone Wilma in 2011, in the Southern Hemisphere. It formed on January 20, peaked at 130 mph (215 km/h) and lasted 11 days. It did not make landfall. Before that, the name was used in 2005.
Hurricane Wilma in 2005 was the strongest, peaking as a Category 5 hurricane with winds of 185 mph (295 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 882 mb. It formed in the Atlantic in October and made landfall near Cozumel, Mexico. The weakest of the two, in 2011, peaked at 130 mph (215 km/h).