Another big blow belatedly swells 2005 storm season

The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was even stormier than everyone thought.

Meteorologists at the U.S.-based National Hurricane Center have officially added an extra tropical storm to the 27 weather systems that blew up last year in the Atlantic Ocean.

That brings the year's total to 28 storms, seven more than the previous record of 21 storms in 1933.

In 2005, 15 were hurricanes and the rest were tropical storms.

The National Hurricane Center said the new storm was recognized after experts pored over their data for the year.

The new subtropical storm formed near the Azores west of Portugal in early October. It lasted only a few days and boasted winds of only 84 kilometres per hour.

• FROM DEC. 30, 2005: Tropical storm Zeta stirs in Atlantic

The Atlantic hurricane season officially came to an end on Nov. 30, 2005, though the last named storm was recorded a month later, also near the Azores.

Record number of storm names barred from future use

The year featured a roster of exceptionally strong storms that whipped through the Atlantic, some of them causing catastrophic damage as they made landfall.

Last week, in recognition of the damage, the international hurricane committee of the World Meteorological Organization officially retired the names of the five worst hurricanes: Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan and Wilma.

That means they will no longer be used to name tropical storms or hurricanes.

The next time those names had been scheduled for use was in 2011. Instead, storms that fall into those alphabetical slots during the 2011 season will be named Don, Katia, Rina, Sean and Whitney.

This is the first time five names have been retired from a single season. Four storm names were retired in 1955, 1995 and 2004.

• FROM APRIL 30, 2004: No more hurricane Juan

Two years ago, hurricane experts retired the name of the last major storm to hit Canada.

Hurricane Juan crashed across Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in September 2003, leaving seven people dead and causing at least $100 million in damages.

The 2006 season, which begins June 1, will use this roster of names: Alberto, Beryl, Chris, Debby, Ernesto, Florence, Gordon, Helene, Isaac, Joyce, Kirk, Leslie, Michael, Nadine, Oscar, Patty, Rafael, Sandy, Tony, Valerie and William.