This storm formed on December 30; however, in the days before satellites, meteorologists had to rely on reports from ships and islands in the Atlantic to locate and track storms. This information was often sketchy; two cyclones, including a Category 2 hurricane, operationally went undetected in 1954. It was officially recognized as a significant tropical cyclone on January 2, 1955. At the time, the National Weather Service used the same naming list each year, so the name given to this storm was "Alice" and it was designated as a part of the 1955 Atlantic hurricane season. However, it was found during post-storm analysis that the storm had actually formed on December 30, and was instead a part of the 1954 season. Therefore, the season had two storms named "Alice" — the first storm of the season, and the last. Had Alice been discovered before the end of the calendar year, it would have been named "Irene", the next name on the 1954 list. Some reports named this storm "Alice2" to avoid confusion with the earlier Alice from June 1954.