Super typhoon Mangkhut made landfall in southern China's Guangdong province on Sunday after leaving a trail of destruction in Hong Kong and Macau (China's Special Administrative Regions), and killing at least 64 people in the northern Philippines.
Netizens were curious about why such a strong typhoon was named after a fruit, which doesn’t really sound match with its destructive power. Well, it’s not a random choice but there are strict rules in terms of naming typhoons.
颱風命名法瞭解一下
在有國際統一的命名規則以前，同一颱風在各國往往有不同的稱呼。20世紀初至中期，我國已自行為熱帶氣旋編配一個4位數字編號。從2001年1月1日起，世界氣象組織使用140個名稱來給西北太平洋和南海的熱帶氣旋循環命名。14個國家和地區各提供10個備用名分組排序、循環利用，使國際上發佈預測和警報、媒體發佈消息變得更加統一規範。
Typhoons, hurricanes and cyclones are all types of tropical storm. They are all essentially the same thing but are given different names because they appear in different areas. Typhoons are formed over the Northwest Pacific Ocean, hurricanes are formed over the North Atlantic Ocean and Northeast Pacific, and cyclones are formed over the South Pacific and Indian Ocean.
Unlike storms in other areas of the world, typhoons are not named after people. The names of typhoons are used sequentially from five lists prepared by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Typhoon Committee. The 14 members submit 10 names to form the list.
各地風格不一 花式命名
據颱風委員會的規定，選擇名稱的原則是：文雅，有和平之意，不能為各國帶來麻煩、不涉及商業命名，因此各國選擇的多以自然美景、動物植物來為颱風命名——有的聽起來異域風情，有的則很“中國風”。
CGTN has chosen the following names, that were submitted by eight members of the WMO Typhoon Committee, as an example.
有的穿越歷史長河
搬來種種神話人物
Chinese people love to tell myths and legends about history and tradition, which has become a spiritual wealth among generations. That’s why a variety of well-known mythological beings have always been chosen to name after a typhoon that happens in Chinese mainland.
Compared with an imaginative thought, China’s Special Administrative Regions Hong Kong and Macau is more into little details of the daily life, as they name typhoons after girl-next-door, the butterfly and fireworks, even the name of a milk pudding.
有的翻開星座書找尋答案
In Japan, however, the culture of constellation seems so appealing to many people, especially among the young generation. Some are fond of horoscope readings and forecasts about the future. No wonder all the ten names that Japan provided are about constellations.
東南亞國家則熱愛大自然
“山竹”就是泰國取的名字
Due to its tropical climate, the Southeast Asian nations generally choose the names based on the natural environment, such as the freshwater fish, plants and elephants. Notably, Typhoon Mangkhut this time is exactly the Thai word for mangosteen fruit.
還有大到整個銀河系、
美到如詩般雋永的各種命名
那些年曾被除名的颱風
颱風命名錶上的名字並不是“終身制”哦！當某個颱風造成了特別重大的災害或人員傷亡而成為公眾知名的颱風時，為了防止它與以後的其它颱風同名，颱風委員會成員可申請將其從命名錶中刪除，由原先提供這個颱風名字的國家或地區，提供新的名稱進行增補。
2018年臺風委員會第五十次屆會上，官方確認由中國所提交的“木蘭”一名取代之前除名的“海馬”成為新臺風名。除此之外，2016年馬來西亞的“莫蘭蒂”、老撾的“洛坦”和柬埔寨的“莎莉嘉”這幾個颱風名也由於破壞力巨大而被除名。
When a typhoon causes extensive destruction and deaths during its intense landing, the name of it would likely be removed permanently from the list, just so to maintain its uniqueness and avoid confusion of naming others in the future, according to meteorological experts.
A committee member may also request the retirement or replacement of a typhoon's name for other reasons, such as cultural diversity.
秋颱風通常是指9-11月生成的颱風，這次的風王“山竹”就是典型的秋颱風。1949至2017年，秋颱風共生成787個，其中超強颱風有222個，佔比28.2%。秋季之所以容易出現強颱風，主要是因為：夏季向秋季過渡時，太陽直射點由北向南移動導致海溫偏暖；海溫高意味著積攢了更多的熱量，提供給颱風的能力也就更大。與夏季颱風相比，秋颱風整體偏強、更容易出現超強颱風，且多為持續性降雨。
閱讀更多 CGTN 的文章
