Past Names

Hong Kong has been using tropical cyclone names assigned by the US Armed Forces' Joint Typhoon Warning Centre at Guam since 1947. Only female names were assigned in the beginning. From 1979 onwards, both male and female names were utilized. These names will be used for the last time in 1999.

• Years 1980-88 Tropical Cyclone Names
• Years 1989-95 Tropical Cyclone Names
• Years 1996-99 Tropical Cyclone Names

Tropical Cyclone Names Effecive From 1 January 2000

The new list of Asia-Pacific names was adopted by the Typhoon Committee at its 31st Session held at the end of year 1998 in Manila, the Philippines. From the year 2000 onwards, tropical cyclones in the western North Pacific and the South China Sea will be assigned names from the list. The list consists of a total of 140 names contributed by 14 countries and territories.

To avoid confusion arising from multiple Chinese translations for any given name, the Hong Kong Observatory, the Macau Meteorological and Geophysical Services and the China National Meteorological Centre have discussed about the subject and agreed to a common set of Chinese names.

With effect from 2000, the Tokyo Typhoon Centre of Japan will assign a serial number and a name from the new list to every tropical cyclone attaining tropical storm strength. Apart from being used in forecasts and warnings issued to the international aviation and shipping communities, the name will also be used officially in information on tropical cyclones issued to the international press.

Regardless the time of year, the name of a tropical cyclone will be assigned in the up-down, left-right sequence from the first name of Group I to the last name of Group V. When the last name in Group V is used, the first name in Group I will be used again and the cycle repeats.