Those codes are invest numbers / disturbance identifiers used by tropical cyclone warning agencies to track systems before—or sometimes after—they become named tropical depressions or storms.
The format is basically:
NN + basin letter
where NN is a sequential number and the final letter identifies the ocean basin.
| Example | Meaning | Basin |
|---|---|---|
| 05L | System number 05 | North Atlantic |
| 12E | System number 12 | Eastern North Pacific |
| 01W | System number 01 | Western North Pacific |
The basin letters are the important part:
- L = North Atlantic, including the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico
- E = Eastern North Pacific
- C = Central North Pacific
- W = Western North Pacific
- A / B = North Indian Ocean
- S / P = Southern Hemisphere basins, depending on location
An important distinction
You might see something like Invest 95L. That is not the fifth tropical cyclone of the year.
Numbers 90–99 are normally reserved for invests—areas of disturbed weather that forecasters are specifically investigating for possible tropical development. The numbers can later be reused.
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