Quezon City, Philippines– The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has officially decommissioned eight tropical cyclone names from its domestic list after the storms caused extensive destruction in the country during the 2024 season.
In a press conference held on February 17, 2025, during the 57th Session of the ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee in Pasay City, PAGASA Administrator Nathaniel T. Servando announced the removal of Aghon, Enteng, Julian, Kristine, Leon, Nika, Ofel, and Pepito from the agency’s rotating list of tropical cyclone names. This marks 2024 as the year with the highest number of decommissioned typhoon names since the current naming system was adopted in 2001.
According to PAGASA, a tropical cyclone name is retired when the storm directly causes at least 300 fatalities or results in damages amounting to PHP 1 billion or more based on official reports from the Office of Civil Defense (OCD). However, due to the compounding effects of multiple typhoons in late 2024, all storms that contributed to the cumulative destruction were also removed from the list.
With the decommissioning of these names, PAGASA will introduce replacements from its reserved list beginning January 1, 2028. The new names are Amuyao, Edring, Josefa, Kidul, Lekep, Nanolay, Onos, and Puwok.
For further information, the public may contact the Marine Meteorological Services Section of PAGASA’s Weather Division via email at typhoon.ops@pagasa.dost.gov.ph or call (02) 8284-0800 local 4800.