A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern

Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin,[1] and is the most active
tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for almost one-third of the world's annual tropical
cyclones. For organizational purposes, the northern Pacific Ocean is divided into three regions: the
eastern (North America to 140°W), central (140°W to 180°), and western (180° to 100°E).
The Regional Specialized Meteorological Center (RSMC) for tropical cyclone forecasts is in Japan,
with other tropical cyclone warning centers for the northwest Pacific in Hawaii (the Joint Typhoon
Warning Center), the Philippines and Hong Kong. While the RSMC names each system, the main
name list itself is coordinated among 18 countries that have territories threatened by typhoons each
year.[2]
Within the northwestern Pacific, there are no official typhoon seasons as tropical cyclones form
throughout the year. Like any tropical cyclone, there are few main requirements for typhoon
formation and development: (1) sufficiently warm sea surface temperatures, (2) atmospheric
instability, (3) high humidity in the lower to middle levels of the troposphere, (4) enough Coriolis
effect to develop a low pressure center, (5) a pre-existing low level focus or disturbance, and (6) a
low vertical wind shear. While the majority of storms form between June and November, a few
storms do occur between December and May (although tropical cyclone formation is at a minimum
during that time). On average, the northwestern Pacific features the most numerous and intense
tropical cyclones globally. Like other basins, they are steered by the subtropical ridge towards the
west or northwest, with some systems recurving near and east of Japan. The Philippines receive the
brunt of the landfalls, with China and Japan being impacted slightly less. Some of the deadliest
typhoons in history have struck China. Southern China has the longest record of typhoon impacts for
the region, with a thousand-year sample via documents within their archives. Taiwan has received
the wettest known typhoon on record for the northwest Pacific tropical cyclone basins.

Contents

 1Nomenclature
o 1.1Etymology and usage
o 1.2Intensity classifications
 2Genesis
 3Frequency
 4Paths
 5Basin monitoring
o 5.1Name sources and name list
 6Records
 7See also
 8Notes
 9References
 10External links

Nomenclature[edit]
Panoramic cityscape skyline of Taipei, Taiwan during a typhoon in August 2015

Etymology and usage[edit]

The term typhoon is the regional name in the northwest Pacific for a severe (or mature) tropical
cyclone,[3] whereas hurricane is the regional term in the northeast Pacific and northern Atlantic.
[4]
 Elsewhere this is called a tropical cyclone, severe tropical cyclone, or severe cyclonic storm.[5]
The French typhon is attested with the meaning of whirlwind or storm since 1504.[6] The Oxford
English Dictionary[7] cites Hindustani ṭūfān and Chinese tai fung giving rise to several early forms in
English. The earliest forms in English—"touffon", later "tufan", "tuffon", and others—derive
from Hindustani ṭūfān, with citations as early as 1588. From 1699 appears "tuffoon", later "tiffoon",
derived from Chinese with spelling influenced by the older Hindustani-derived forms. The modern
spelling "typhoon" dates to 1820, preceded by "tay-fun" in 1771 and "ty-foong", all derived from the
Chinese tai fung.
The Hindustani source word ṭūfān ("violent storm"; Perso-Arabic: ‫طوفان‬, Devanagari: तूफ़ान)[8] comes
from the Persian tūfān (Persian: ‫طوفان‬/‫ )توفان‬meaning "storm" which comes from the
verb tūfīdan (Persian: ‫طوفیدن‬/‫)توفیدن‬, "to roar, to blow furiously".[citation needed] The word ‫( طوفان‬ṭūfān) is also
derived from Arabic as coming from ṭāfa, to turn round.[7]
The Chinese source is the word tai fung or taifeng[8] (simplified Chinese: 台风; traditional Chinese: 颱
風; pinyin: táifēng). The modern Japanese word, 台風 (たいふう, taifuu); as well as the
modern Korean word 태풍 (taepung) are also derived from Chinese. The first character is normally
used to mean "pedestal" or "stand", but is actually a simplification of the older Chinese character 颱,
which means "typhoon"; thus the word originally meant "typhoon wind".
The Ancient Greek Τυφῶν (Typhôn, "Typhon") is related and has secondarily contaminated the
word.[8] The Persian term may originally have been influenced by the Greek word.[7][9]

Intensity classifications[edit]
See also: Tropical cyclone scales

RSMC Tokyo's Tropical Cyclone Intensity Scale

Category Sustained winds

≥105 knots
Violent Typhoon
≥194 km/h

85–104 knots
Very Strong Typhoon
157–193 km/h

64–84 knots
Typhoon
118–156 km/h

Severe Tropical Storm 48–63 knots

 89–117 km/h

34–47 knots
Tropical Storm
62–88 km/h

≤33 knots
Tropical Depression
≤61 km/h

A tropical depression is the lowest category that the Japan Meteorological Agency uses and is the
term used for a tropical system that has wind speeds not exceeding 33 knots (38 mph; 61 km/h).[10] A
tropical depression is upgraded to a tropical storm should its sustained wind speeds exceed 34
knots (39 mph; 63 km/h). Tropical storms also receive official names from RSMC Tokyo.[10] Should
the storm intensify further and reach sustained wind speeds of 48 knots (55 mph; 89 km/h) then it
will be classified as a severe tropical storm.[10] Once the system's maximum sustained winds reach
wind speeds of 64 knots (74 mph; 119 km/h), the JMA will designate the tropical cyclone as
a typhoon—the highest category on its scale.[10]
Since 2009 the Hong Kong Observatory has divided typhoons into three different
classifications: typhoon, severe typhoon and super typhoon.[11] A typhoon has wind speed of 64–79
knots (73–91 mph; 118–149 km/h), a severe typhoon has winds of at least 80 knots (92 mph;
150 km/h), and a super typhoon has winds of at least 100 knots (120 mph; 190 km/h).[11] The United
States' Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) unofficially classifies typhoons with wind speeds of at
least 130 knots (67 m/s; 150 mph; 241 km/h)—the equivalent of a strong Category 4 storm in
the Saffir-Simpson scale—as super typhoons.[12] However, the maximum sustained wind speed
measurements that the JTWC uses are based on a 1-minute averaging period, akin to the
U.S.' National Hurricane Center and Central Pacific Hurricane Center. As a result, the JTWC's wind
reports are higher than JMA's measurements, as the latter is based on a 10-minute averaging
interval.[13]