List of retired Pacific typhoon names

Tacloban devastated by Typhoon Haiyan

The practice of using names to identify tropical cyclones goes back several centuries, with systems named after places, saints or things they hit before the formal start of naming in the Western Pacific.[1] These included the Kamikaze, 1906 Hong Kong typhoon, 1922 Swatow typhoon and the 1934 Muroto typhoon.[2]

The practice of retiring significant names was started during 1955 by the United States Weather Bureau in the Northern Atlantic basin, after hurricanes Carol, Edna, and Hazel struck the East Coast of the United States and caused a significant amount of damage in the previous year.[3] Initially the names were only designed to be retired for ten years after which they might be reintroduced; however, it was decided at the 1969 Interdepartmental hurricane conference, that any significant hurricane in the future would have its name permanently retired.[3][4] The first tropical cyclone name to be removed in the South Pacific was Rosie after it had impacted Vanuatu and New Caledonia during 1971. Several names have been removed from the Pacific naming lists for various other reasons than causing a significant amount of death/destruction, which include being pronounced in a very similar way to other names and political reasons.[5][6]

In 2000, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) began naming tropical cyclones from a list of 140 names, submitted by 14 countries. Previously, the JMA labeled storms with numbers, but not names. The JMA has been the official warning agency of the western Pacific Ocean since 1981, though other organizations have also tracked typhoons. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) unofficially named tropical cyclones from 1947 to 1999.[7] During this time period, there were several pre-determined tropical cyclone lists, in which many names were removed and replaced with others.[8] The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) names tropical cyclones using a separate list, which is adjusted periodically.[9]

Several names were removed from the list. In 2002, the name Hanuman was replaced prior to being used, due to objection by the India Meteorological Department for reason of religion.[10] Additionally, the name Kodo was replaced in 2002 without being used.[11] The following year, Koni was replaced by Goni, after an apparent misspelling was made. In 2004, the names Yanyan and Tingting were removed at the request of the Hong Kong Observatory.[11][12] A total of nine names on the list had their spellings changed.[11] In February 2014, the name Sonamu was removed at the request from Malaysia due to causing unprecedented panic by the similar pronunciation to tsunami.[13] In February 2015 the name Jongdari was chosen as replacement for Sonamu. In the 46th session of the Typhoon Committee, it was noted the name Vicente appears on both the tropical cyclone name lists for the Western North Pacific and Eastern North Pacific. In response to this duplication the name Lan was chosen as replacement for Vicente on the Western North Pacific name list to avoid potential confusion.

Typhoon Mireille near peak intensity on September 22, 1991

Between 1947 and 2000, eleven names of significant tropical cyclones were retired from the list of names used by the United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center.[14] During this time other names were removed from the naming lists, including in 1979 when the lists of names used were revised to include both male and female names.[14][15] Tropical Storm Lucille was the first name to be retired for its impacts, while Ophelia was retired because of its long 8,045 km (5,000 mi) track.[14]

Typhoon Hagibis near peak intensity on October 7, 2019

During the past decade, 27 names have had their names retired by the Typhoon Committee. Collectively, these systems killed at least 14080 people and caused at least $93 billion worth of damage. Typhoon Haiyan is the strongest and deadliest storm of the decade to have its name retired, while Typhoon Hagibis is the costliest storm of the decade to have its name retired.

• List of retired Atlantic hurricane names
• List of retired Pacific hurricane names
• List of retired Philippine typhoon names
• List of retired Australian cyclone names
• List of retired South Pacific tropical cyclone names

• China Meteorological Agency
• Digital Typhoon
• Hong Kong Observatory
• Japan Meteorological Agency
• Joint Typhoon Warning Center
• Korea Meteorological Administration
• Malaysian Meteorological Department
• National Weather Service Guam
• Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration
• Taiwan Central Weather Bureau
• TCWC Jakarta (in Indonesian)
• Thai Meteorological Department (in Thai)
• Typhoon2000
• Vietnam's National Hydro-Meteorological Service