2022 Pacific typhoon season facts for kids

The 2022 Pacific typhoon season is an ongoing event in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation, in which tropical cyclones form in the western Pacific Ocean. The season runs throughout 2022, though most tropical cyclones typically develop between May and October.

The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean to the north of the equator between 100°E and 180th meridian. Within the northwestern Pacific Ocean, there are two separate agencies that assign names to tropical cyclones which can often result in a cyclone having two names. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) will name a tropical cyclone should it be judged to have 10-minute sustained wind speeds of at least 65 km/h (40 mph) anywhere in the basin, whilst the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) assigns names to tropical cyclones which move into or form as a tropical depression in their area of responsibility located between 135°E and 115°E and between 5°N–25°N regardless of whether or not a tropical cyclone has already been given a name by the JMA. Tropical depressions that are monitored by the United States' Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) are given a number with a "W" suffix.

Seasonal forecasts

Tropical Storm Chaba (left) continuing to intensify in the South China Sea, while Tropical Storm Aere (Domeng) (right) is moving north slowly across the Philippine Sea.

During the year several national meteorological services and scientific agencies forecast how many tropical cyclones, tropical storms, and typhoons will form during a season and/or how many tropical cyclones will affect a particular country. These agencies included the Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) Consortium of University College London, PAGASA and Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau. The first forecast was released by PAGASA on December 22, 2021, in their monthly seasonal climate outlook predicting the first half of 2022. They predicted that only 0–3 tropical cyclones were expected to form or enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility between January and March, while 1–4 tropical cyclones are expected to form between April and June. PAGASA also stated that ongoing La Niña conditions could last until it transitions back into ENSO-neutral conditions by the second quarter of 2022.

On May 5, Tropical Storm Risk (TSR) issued its first forecast for the 2022 season with ongoing La Niña still anticipated until roughly the third quarter of the year, TSR predicted that tropical activity for 2022 will be slightly below average predicting 23 named storms, 13 typhoons and 7 intense typhoons.

Seasonal summary

Tropical Storm Malakas intensifying east of Yap as Tropical Storm Megi nears the Visayas and later stalls in the Leyte Gulf, bringing massive flooding and landslides to the Philippines.

The first two months of 2022 were relatively quiet in the Western Pacific Ocean. In the final week of March, a tropical depression formed west of Palawan and headed for Vietnam, and received the designation of 01W from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, but the system did not last long and dissipated the next day. In early April, the systems designated as 02W and 03W formed. 02W went on to become Tropical Storm Malakas, which later intensified into the first tropical storm, and later the first typhoon of the season. It also received the name Basyang from PAGASA, but only lasted 5 hours inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility. 03W received the name Agaton from PAGASA and first struck Guiuan in Eastern Visayas before eventually moving westward, and later intensifying into Tropical Storm Megi. Megi brought catastrophic flooding and landslides to the country as it remained almost stationary in the Leyte Gulf before making landfall, which effectively made it the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the month of April in the Philippines. Megi later dissipated on April 13, as Malakas developed into a Category 4-equivalent typhoon. Malakas then began to rapidly weaken as it headed northeast and became extratropical, and the basin quieted down for the rest of April. No storms formed during the entirety of May, with a minor tropical depression forming east of Mindanao formed on May 30, and later dissipated on that day.

Nearing the end of June, a tropical depression formed west of Luzon where it received the name Caloy by the PAGASA. Caloy then intensified into a tropical storm a day later, gaining the international name Chaba. Around the same time, a new Low Pressure Area (LPA) east of Northern Luzon was given a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert by JTWC, and was named by PAGASA as Domeng. The system eventually strengthened into a tropical storm where the JMA named the system Aere. Chaba continued to intensify until it reached Severe Tropical Storm status as Aere moved poleward and threatened the Japanese Ryukyu Islands. Chaba became a Category 1 typhoon and struck Maoming, China, and also sunk a crane ship passing nearby Hong Kong. Aere passed through Naha, Japan and weakened into a tropical depression. After crossing Japan, Aere (Domeng) was reupgraded by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center into a subtropical storm.

Season effects

This table summarizes all the systems that developed within or moved into the North Pacific Ocean, to the west of the International Date Line during 2022. The tables also provide an overview of a system's intensity, duration, land areas affected and any deaths or damages associated with the system.

See also

In Spanish: Temporada de tifones en el Pacífico de 2022 para niños