This is a list of all
Pacific typhoon
A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...
s that have had their names retired from the international list of tropical cyclone names used in the Western Pacific Ocean. Since tropical cyclones started to be named in the basin after World War II a total of 85
typhoon
A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...
names have been retired. Those typhoons that have their names retired tend to be exceptionally destructive storms. Several names were removed or altered
naming list for various reasons other than retirement. Collectively, the typhoons with retired names have caused over $108 billion in damage (
USD
The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...
), as well as over 12,000 deaths.
Background
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.
These included the
Kamikaze
, officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to d ...
,
1906 Hong Kong typhoon,
1922 Shantou typhoon
The 1922 Shantou Typhoon was a devastating tropical cyclone that caused thousands of deaths in the Chinese city of Shantou in August 1922. This total makes it one of the deadliest known typhoons in history.
Meteorological history
A tropical dep ...
and the
1934 Muroto typhoon
In September 1934, a violent typhoon caused tremendous devastation in Japan, leaving more than 3,000 people dead in its wake. Dubbed the , the system was first identified on September 13 over the western Federated States of Micron ...
.
The practice of retiring significant names was started during 1955 by the
United States Weather Bureau
The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...
in the Northern Atlantic basin, after hurricanes
Carol,
Edna, and
Hazel
Hazels are plants of the genus ''Corylus'' of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family, Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K ...
struck the
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the region encompassing the coast, coastline where the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean; it has always pla ...
and caused a significant amount of damage in the previous year.
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.
The first tropical cyclone names to be retired in the Western Pacific were Lucille and Ophelia during 1960. 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.
In 2000, the
Japan Meteorological Agency
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA; ''気象庁, Kishō-chō'') is a division of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism dedicated to the Scientific, scientific observation and research of natural phenomena. Headquartered ...
(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
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The JTWC is responsible for the issuing of tropical cyclone warnings in the North-West Pacific Ocean, South P ...
(JTWC) unofficially named tropical cyclones from
1947
It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Events
January
* January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...
to
1999
1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons.
Events January
* January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers.
* January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
. During this time period, there were several pre-determined
tropical cyclone lists, in which many names were removed and replaced with others. The
(PAGASA) names tropical cyclones using a separate list, which is adjusted periodically.
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
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The JTWC is responsible for the issuing of tropical cyclone warnings in the North-West Pacific Ocean, South P ...
.
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.
Tropical Storm Lucille was the first name to be retired for its impacts, while Ophelia was retired because of its long track.
At the 33rd session of the typhoon committee held in November 2000, the committee was informed that the
India Meteorological Department
India Meteorological Department (IMD) is an Indian agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India. It is the principal agency responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasting and seismology. IMD is headquar ...
had objected to the name ''Hanuman'' being used as a name because of potential religious sentiments.
Thailand also requested that the spelling of several names be corrected and indicated a desire to change the names ''Prapiroon'', ''Durian'' and ''Khanun''.
The representatives of the United States of America also requested that the name ''Kodo'' be changed as it would have an undesirable meaning if mispronounced.
The session subsequently accepted the spelling changes as well as the requests from Thailand and the United States and established that both countries would submit a list of four names in priority order to its Secretariat within a week of the session ending.
The Typhoon Committee Secretariat would then circulate the list to all members for comment, with the highest priority name acceptable to all members used.
The secretariat subsequently reported to the following years session that the names ''Morakot'' and ''Aere'' had replaced ''Hanuman'' and ''Kodo''.
Names retired before 2000
Names retired in 2000s
Names retired in 2010s
Names retired in 2020s
See also
*
List of retired Atlantic hurricane names
This is a cumulative list of previously used tropical cyclone (tropical storm and hurricane) names that have been permanently removed from reuse in the North Atlantic basin. As of 2025, 99 storm names have been retired.
The Tropical cyclone namin ...
*
List of retired Pacific hurricane names
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
*
List of retired Philippine typhoon names
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
*
List of retired Australian cyclone names
*
List of retired South Pacific tropical cyclone names
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
Notes
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Retired Pacific Typhoon Names
Pacific typhoon
A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...