Updated March 25, 2017 13:50:06

Photo: A tropical low off the north Queensland coast, before it officially became Cyclone Debbie. (Supplied: Bureau of Meteorology)

The Bureau of Meteorology has officially declared Cyclone Debbie as a category one cyclone off the coast of Queensland.

But why Debbie? Why not Laura? Or Nick?

Here's how the bureau decides what a cyclone is going to be named.

They've got a list

It was first introduced for the start of the 2008/09 season, and it's 104 names long.

It works through the alphabet from A-Z, alternating between male and female names.

Cyclone Debbie was almost Cyclone Caleb, before a system off the coast of Western Australia formed into a cyclone first.

All the names on the list had to be approved by the World Meteorological Organisation Regional Tropical Cyclone Committee for the SE Pacific.

If you want to play along a home, the next few cyclones will be called Ernie, Frances, Greg and then Hilda.

Are there any names the BOM doesn't use?

Yep. There's a few rules on which names it avoids.

The first is if a significant cyclone affects Australia, that name will be retired (think Cyclone Tracey or Cyclone Larry).

They also avoid names of public figures that might be seen as controversial, so we're unlikely to see a Cyclone Malcolm or Cyclone Donald any time soon.

If there's two cyclones happening at once, similar sounding names are also avoided so there's no confusion.

You can name a cyclone … but it'll take a while

The Bureau accepts requests to add names to its list, but only in writing.

The names are added to a supplementary list that is used when a name is retired from the original list.

But because so many people want to name a cyclone, these letters are closed for any further submissions:

• Male: A, B, F, J, R, S, T, W, X, Y, Z
• Female: A, B, G, J, K, L, M, N, P,Q, R, S, T, W, X, Y, Z

If you pass all those hurdles, here's a note from the bureau's website on how long it'll take:

"Note that it can take many decades for a suitable slot to become available, then a further 10-20 years for the names to cycle through, so it is likely to be well over 50 years before your requested name is allocated to a cyclone."

So if you write that letter tomorrow, maybe in 2067 your suggestion will make it through.

Topics: cyclone, weather, human-interest, australia

First posted March 25, 2017 13:47:55