Agnes is a retired Atlantic hurricane name. The World Meteorological Organization took it off the lists after the 1972 storm, so no future Atlantic storm will be called Agnes. Since 1981, four storms have been named Agnes; the strongest, in 1984, peaked as a Category 4 typhoon.
Yes. Agnes is on NHC’s list of retired Atlantic names because of the 1972 storm. It is one of 100 names retired there since 1954 (Tropical Cyclone Naming History and Retired Names).
A name is retired when a storm was so deadly or costly that using the name again would be insensitive; the World Meteorological Organization then picks a new name with the same first letter at its annual meeting.
It won’t be. Retired names are not used again on the Atlantic lists.
Agnes formed in the Southern Hemisphere in April 1995 and peaked as a Category 3 cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 125 mph (205 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 945 mb. It did not make landfall. The system was tracked for 8 days.
Cyclone Agnes (1995): track and historyAgnes formed in the West Pacific in July 1988 and peaked as a tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 60 mph (95 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 975 mb. It did not make landfall. The system was tracked for 9 days.
Tropical Storm Agnes (1988): track and historyAgnes formed in the West Pacific in October 1984 and peaked as a Category 4 typhoon with maximum sustained winds of 140 mph (220 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 925 mb. It made 3 landfalls, first near Tacloban, Philippines and last near An Khê, Vietnam. The system was tracked for 12 days.
Typhoon Agnes (1984): track and historyAgnes formed in the West Pacific in August 1981 and peaked as a Category 2 typhoon with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 950 mb. It did not make landfall. The system was tracked for 12 days.
Typhoon Agnes (1981): track and history| Storm | Landfall near | Date (UTC) | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agnes 1984 | Tacloban, Philippines | 1984-11-04 21:00 | 125 mph / 205 km/h |
| Agnes 1984 | New Washington, Philippines | 1984-11-05 06:00 | 100 mph / 155 km/h |
| Agnes 1984 | An Khê, Vietnam | 1984-11-07 12:00 | 100 mph / 155 km/h |
Storms named Agnes appear in more than one ocean in our archive:
Each ocean region keeps its own name lists, drawn up by its own WMO regional committee (Tropical cyclone naming), so the same name can be given to unrelated storms in different oceans.
The most recent was Cyclone Agnes in 1995, in the Southern Hemisphere. It formed on April 15, peaked at 125 mph (205 km/h) and lasted 8 days. It did not make landfall. Before that, the name was used in 1988, 1984 and 1981.
Typhoon Agnes in 1984 was the strongest, peaking as a Category 4 typhoon with winds of 140 mph (220 km/h) and a minimum pressure of 925 mb. It formed in the West Pacific in October and made landfall near Tacloban, Philippines. The weakest of the four, in 1988, peaked at 60 mph (95 km/h).