WITH the Philippines bracing for another year of tropical cyclone activity, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has released its list of typhoon names for 2026, including four new additions to replace those retired due to their devastating impact. The agency anticipates an active season, urging communities to prepare accordingly.
On average, the Philippines sees at least 20 tropical cyclones enter its area of responsibility each year, with eight to nine making landfall. To prepare for this, PAGASA utilizes four sets of names in rotation.
For 2026, PAGASA will use Set II, which includes the new names “Ada,” “Francisco,” “Kiyapo,” and “Pilandok.” These replace “Agaton” (Megi), “Florita” (Ma-On), “Karding” (Noru), and “Paeng” (Nalgae), all of which caused significant damage and loss of life in 2022.
A local tropical cyclone name is retired if it directly results in at least 300 deaths or P1 billion in damage to property, agriculture, and infrastructure, according to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).
The 2026 list of tropical cyclone names is as follows:
- Ada
- Basyang
- Caloy
- Domeng
- Ester
- Francisco
- Gardo
- Henry
- Inday
- Josie
- Kiyapo
- Luis
- Maymay
- Neneng
- Obet
- Pilandok
- Queenie
- Rosal
- Samuel
- Tomas
- Umberto
- Venus
- Waldo
- Yayang
- Zeny
Should the number of tropical cyclones exceed 25, the following auxiliary names will be used:
- Agila
- Bagwis
- Chito
- Diego
- Elena
- Felino
- Gunding
- Harriet
- Indang
- Jessa
PAGASA has stated that the peak of typhoon season is typically from July to October. The agency anticipates at least eight tropical cyclones in the first half of 2026, with up to one storm per month from January to April, and at least one or two each in May and June.
In 2025, 23 tropical cyclones entered the PAR, with Typhoon Tino (Kalmaegi) being the deadliest. Other notable storms included Super Typhoon Uwan (Fung-Wong) and the series of Tropical Storms Crising (Wipha), Dante (Francisco), and Typhoon Emong (Co-May). PAGASA has yet to announce which, if any, 2025 names will be decommissioned.
