Anthony Albanese avoids cyclone namesake
A tropical cyclone heading for North Queensland won't be called 'Anthony' as previously planned to help "avoid any confusion" ahead of the upcoming election.
The Bureau of Meteorology shuffled the name to avoid any confusion with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, announcing that next cyclone will be titled "Alfred".
Following Tropical Cyclone Zelia in Western Australia, the next name on the list was planned to be the prime minister's first name "Anthony".
"When a name matches a prominent person of the time, we reorder to the next name starting with that same letter to avoid any confusion, " a bureau spokesperson said.
However, the bureau plans to retain the long tradition of alternating alphabetically with male and female names, and the next cyclone will be titled "Alfred".
The name could potentially go to the low-pressure system in the Coral Sea off North Queensland, if it grows to tropical cyclone level over the weekend.
The bureau has been christening tropical cyclones in Australia with human names since 1963, with some of the most destructive cyclones in Australian history have been named Tracy, Larry, Ada, Glenda, Mahina and Debbie.
Initially, the cyclones were only given female names with the first official names being Audrey and Bessie in 1964, before the bureau broadened its options to include male names in 1975.
Authorities decided to name tropical cyclones to raise public awareness of the powerful weather systems and to help the bureau easily communicate information and warnings for those impacted by severe storm systems.
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