Names like "Kanun" or "Hinnamnor" aren't picked by a single country on the fly — they're drawn in order from a list built jointly by 14 countries across Asia and the Pacific. Here's how typhoon names are assigned, and what happens when one gets retired.
Typhoon names are managed by the ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee, made up of 14 countries and territories across Asia and the Pacific — including South Korea, North Korea, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, the United States, and Micronesia. Each submits 10 names, forming a list of 140 total, and typhoons draw from this list in order as they form.
The 140 names are split into 5 groups of 28, and within each group, names are used in order based on the alphabetical order of the submitting country's name. When one typhoon uses a name, the next typhoon to form uses the next one on the list, cycling back to the first group once all five have been used. Some names South Korea has submitted, like "Gaemi" and "Nari," are pure Korean words.
If a typhoon causes especially severe damage, making reuse of its name feel inappropriate, the affected member country can request that it be permanently retired from the list. A new name from the same country fills the vacancy, and the retired name isn't reused for at least 30 years. Familiar names like "Maemi" (2003) and "Nabi" (2005) were retired for this reason.
Multiple typhoons can form at the same time, and numbers alone are easy to confuse. Giving each one a name makes it easier for forecasters and the public alike to distinguish and remember a specific storm, improving how well warnings and preparedness messages get across.
When a typhoon forms, its name and track show up together in the news. Saving the places you check often in sanCheck lets you see advisory status and outdoor-activity score changes at a glance as a typhoon moves north.