Did you know? Typhoons in the Philippines have two names

Have you ever noticed that the name for a big storm hitting the Philippines on the news in the U.S. is different from the name used by local Philippine reports?

This is not a mistake. It happens because the Philippines uses two names for one storm. This dual naming system helps keep local people safe and aware.

Name One: The international name used by the U.S. and world news

The first name is the international name.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) gives this name. The JMA is in charge of naming storms for the entire Northwest Pacific region.

This international name is the one you see on news reports outside the Philippines, including in the U.S. and other countries. The names come from a long list contributed by 14 nations in the area.

Name Two: The local name used in the Philippines

The second name is the local name.

The Philippine weather agency, PAGASA, uses this name. They start using the local name the moment a storm enters the Philippine Area of Responsibility.

PAGASA uses names that are familiar and easy for Filipino people to remember. These are often common Filipino names.

The main reason for this is safety. Using a well-known, local name helps quickly get the attention of the public. This makes sure people take the storm warnings seriously.

One storm, two labels

This is why the same powerful storm might be called "Kompasu" on a U.S. news site, while every local Filipino report calls it "Maring."

The system makes sure that even as the rest of the world tracks the storm with one name, the name used to give important, life-saving warnings to people in the Philippines is the one they will best understand.