Has the name John been retired?
Yes. John is on NHC’s list of retired eastern and central Pacific names because of the 2024 storm. It is one of 22 names retired there since 1965 (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.
When will John be used again?
It won’t be. Retired names are not used again on the eastern and central Pacific lists. Its place on the list, the J slot, now belongs to Jake, on the 2030 East Pacific list, which is next used in 2030.
Why was the storm named John?
Names go in alphabetical order, one per storm, as each storm reaches tropical-storm strength (39 mph, 34 knots), so a storm’s place in its season decides its name.
In each of 2024, 2018, 2012, 2006, 2000, 1994 and 1988, John was the 10th name used in the East Pacific season.
John in other oceans
Storms named John appear in more than one ocean in our archive:
- East Pacific: 1988, 1994, 2000, 2006, 2012, 2018 and 2024
- Southern Hemisphere: 1989 and 1999
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.