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Another Busy Summer in the Western Pacific

Posted on by gmachos

Goni, Kilo, and Soudelor Top Another Big Season of Typhoons

Last night, Hurricaneville reported on Kilo crossing the International Date Line on Tuesday, and becoming another Typhoon for the Western Pacific.  Kilo appears to be on course to be the longest lasting tropical cyclone of 2015 although it will fall far short of the record set by Typhoon John back in 1994.  Kilo is one of many noteworthy typhoons that have traversed the Western Pacific this summer.  Soudelor and Goni are two other storms that left significant impacts in Taiwan and Japan respectively.

Those aforementioned storms are just the tip of the iceberg for this year’s typhoon season in the Western Pacific though.  According to Wikipedia, there have been a total of 24 depressions, 18 named storms, 11 typhoons, and 6 super typhoons.  The Super Typhoons in 2015 include:  Maysak (Chedeng), Noul, Dolphin, Soudelor (Hanna), and Atsani.  In addition, there were four powerful typhoons of Category Four stregth named Higos, Chan-hom (Falcon), Nangka, Goni (Ineng).  The first system formed right after the start of the new year on January 2nd.  A total of 135 deaths and $5.1 billion in damage around the Pacific Rim have been attributed to these storms.  Here are capsules on the more notable storms in the WESTPAC:

Typhoon Higos

Higos was a Category Four typhoon with a peak intensity of 940 millibars, or about 27.76 inches of Hg, and winds of 105 miles per hour.  The storm lasted for just under a week from February 6th to February 12th.  At its peak, Higos became the strongest typhoon recorded during the month of February since 1970.  The storm weakened just as rapidly as it had to become a powerful typhoon.  Higos didn’t impact land.

Typhoon Maysak (Chendeng)

Forming originally to the southwest of the Marshall islands of March 26th, Maysak  lasted nearly two weeks, and had a minimum central pressure of 910 millibars, or 26.87 inches of Hg and maximum 10 minute sustained winds of 120 miles per hour at peak intensity.  One minute maximum sustained winds topped 155 miles per hour.  Maysak moved through portions of Micronesia where it caused extensive damage.  Initial reports indicated that five people had lost their lives in the storm.

Typhoon Noul (Dodong)

Noul was the 2nd Super Typhoon of 2015.  Forming on May 2nd near Micronesia, the storm lasted for approximately 10 days.  At peak intensity, minimum central pressure with Noul was 920 millibars, or 27.17 inches of Hg while 10-minute maximum sustained winds were 125 miles per hour.  The storm underwent some fluctuations in intensity before rapidly deepening in a Super Typhoon on May 10th.  Noul eventually made landfall over Pananapan Point, Santa Ana, Cagayan in the Northeastern tip of Luzon in the Philippines.  The storm began to weaken afterwards.

Typhoon Dolphin

Dolphin was the third Super Typhoon of the season, and the second straight.  Forming southeast of Pohnpei, Dolphin would linger in the Western Pacific basin for two weeks from May 6th to May 20th.  Reaching peak intensity on May 16th, Dolphin’s minimum central pressure dipped to 925 millibars, or 27.32 inches of Hg while its 10 minute maximum sustained winds topped out at 115 miles per hour.  Dolphin sustained Super Typhoon intensity for 30 hours.  Fortunately, the storm recurved well east of Japan and Russia.

Typhoon Chan-hom (Falcon)

Forming in the final days of June near the island of Kosrae, Chan-hom reached Category Four strength on July 9th with 935 millibars, or 27.61 inches of Hg minimum central pressure, and 105 mile per hour 10-minute maximum sustained winds.  The typhoon lasted for about 15 days before weakening after going through an eyewall replacement cycle, and coming ashore southeast of Shanghai in China.  The weakened storm also traveled into the Korean Peninsula before transitioning into an extratropical cyclone.  Chan-hom was responsible for just under a billion dollars in damage in East China while indirectly contributing to the deaths of 4 people and $90,000 in damages in the Philippines.

Typhoon Nangka

Another powerful typhoon that lasted over two weeks in the Western Pacific, Nangka formed on the 2nd day of July.  At peak intensity on July 9th, Nangka with a minimum central pressure of 925 millibars, or 27.32 inches of Hg, ten minute maximum sustained winds of 115 miles per hour, and a one minute maximum sustained wind of 155 miles per hour.  The storm had some fluctuations in intensity from July 9th to July 12th when Nangka reached its secondary peak as a Category Three strength typhoon.  The typhoon then made two landfalls in Japan on July 16th.  The first one was over Muroto, Kochi while the second landfall was hours later over the island of Honshu.

Typhoon Soudelor

Forming on July 29th, and lasting some two weeks before dissipating, Soudelor has been the most powerful storm to date in the WEST PAC, strengthening to Super Typhoon status with a pressure that dropped down to 26.58 inches of Hg, or 900 millibars on August 4th, making the storm an equivalent of a Category Five Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.

Soudelor’s highest 10 minute sustained winds were 130 miles per hour while its one minute sustained wind topped out at 180 miles per hour.  The storm’s path took it through the Philippines, Taiwan, Mariana Islands, Japan, East China, and South Korea.  The storm left behind damage that has been initially estimated at $3.2 billion while causing 38 deaths.  

Typhoon Goni (Ineng)

A fierce storm that was documented going through the southern portion of Japan by iCyclone, Goni first formed to the southeast of Guam on August 13th, and lasted for a dozen days as it first headed westward toward the northern Philippines before turning to the north just to the east of Taiwan, and coming through Southern Japan before going between the rest of Japan and the Korean Peninsula in the Sea of Japan.  

At peak intensity, Goni had a minimum central pressure of 935 millibars, or 27.61 inches of Hg with 10 minute maximum sustained winds of 110 miles per hour.  The storm underwent rapid intensification prior to becoming a Category Four storm the first time.  Then, Goni underwent some fluctuations in strength before reaching Southern Japan as a Category Four storm again.  See video of Goni impacting Southern Japan at iCyclone.com

Typhoon Atsani

Forming around the same time as Goni (actually a day later), Atsani took a path to the north and east before recurving well to the East of Japan.  The storm lasted just under a dozen days and peaked on August 19th with a minimum central pressure of 27.32 inches of Hg or 925 millibars with a 10 minute maximum sustained wind of 115 miles per hour and a one minute maximum sustained wind of 160 miles per hour.  Wind shear and dry air entrainment doomed the storm soon after that.

Typhoon Kilo

Kilo actually originated in the Central Pacific where it peaked as a Category Four Hurricane with 145 mile per hour winds as it trekked past Hawaii.  Moving past the International Date Line on Tuesday, Kilo became a Category One Typhoon with 85 mile per hour winds.  The storm is expected to strengthen to Category Four intensity as it approaches Japan around September 15th.  The storm is expected to become the longest lasting tropical cyclone this year, but fall short of the duration mark set by Typhoon John in 1994.  See more details on Kilo in the blog at https://www.hurricaneville.com/blog/?p=1530.

Normally, the Western Pacific is the most active basin in the tropics with the most intense storms as well, but with the emergence of El Niño, more storms are forming in the Eastern and Central Pacific, and in the case of Kilo, crossing the International Date Line into the Western Pacific as Typhoons.