MANILA, Philippines – Eight of the 18 tropical cyclone names used in 2024 were removed from the regular list of the weather bureau after these storms caused destruction in parts of the Philippines.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said it has decommissioned the following local names:
PAGASA retires the local name of a tropical cyclone when it causes at least 300 deaths and/or P1 billion worth of damage to agriculture and infrastructure.
But the weather bureau explained that for the fourth quarter of 2024 in particular — when the country saw six tropical cyclones in less than a month — it chose to decommission the names of all tropical cyclones that directly contributed to the combined impacts seen during the period.
PAGASA said 2024 is now “the year with the most number of decommissioned names since the present naming scheme began in 2001.”
A retired name is replaced by another name starting with the same letter.
PAGASA will be using the following replacements for the eight names retired from 2024:
- Amuyao
- Edring
- Josefa
- Kidul
- Lekep
- Nanolay
- Onos
- Puwok
Those replacement names will be used starting 2028, and every four years thereafter — unless they also have to be decommissioned.
PAGASA has four sets of local tropical cyclone names that are used alternately. View the names for 2025 here. – Rappler.com