TROPICAL CYCLONE SUMMARY FOR 2008

For the second year in a row, the tropical cyclone season of the western North Pacific basin was below normal in almost every category of activity (e.g., number of typhoons). The JTWC numbered 27 tropical cyclones in the western North Pacific basin during 2008. This was 4 below average. Of these 27 cyclones, 2 were tropical depressions, 14 were tropical storms, 11 were typhoons, and 2 of the typhoons were super typhoons. This corresponds to normal values of 3, 10, 18, and 4 for these statistics, respectively. (The JMA named 22 of the cyclones that JTWC numbered. The JMA named one cyclone, Phanfone, which the JTWC did not number.) Tropical cyclone activity in the western North Pacific basin was also shifted far westward and northward, which is typical during La Niña. Because of this major shift of basin cyclone activity, no area of Micronesia was severely impacted by a tropical cyclone during 2008. The Weather Forecast Office (WFO) Guam almost made it through the entire calendar year of 2008 without issuing a single tropical cyclone watch or warning for any of the islands of Micronesia. This unprecedented tranquility was interrupted by Typhoon Dolphin during December. This Typhoon, which had a very unusual origin (having developed from a sub-tropical disturbance), passed near enough to Guam and the CNMI in mid-December for the WFO Guam to issue a tropical storm watch and a tropical storm warning for these islands. Dolphin’s passage by Guam and the CNMI was largely uneventful with some moderately gusty winds (30-35 mph) accompanied by some rain showers that contributed only about 1 inch of rainfall to December’s rather dry monthly rainfall total.

The tropical cyclone activity in the eastern North Pacific (historically the world’s 2nd most active basin) was near normal in total output of cyclones but below normal in the count of hurricanes and intense hurricanes for the year. During 2008, the National Hurricane Center, Miami, named 16 cyclones there, which is within normal limits. Of the 16 named cyclones, only 6 became hurricanes, and of the hurricanes, two of them (Hurricanes Hernan and Norbert) became major hurricanes (i.e., a hurricane with an intensity to place it at Category 3, 4 or 5 on the Saffir Simpson hurricane damage potential scale). Normally there are 8 or 9 hurricanes in the eastern North Pacific, of which 4 typically reach major hurricane status. In the central North Pacific, only one tropical storm developed in all of 2008. On August 7, Tropical Storm Kika formed far southeast of the main Hawaiian islands. The storm moved westward over open water and weakened seven days later without incident. On average, 4-5 tropical cyclones are observed in the central North Pacific every year.

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The PEAC Center archives western North Pacific tropical cyclone numbers, track coordinates, and 1 minute average maximum sustained wind taken from operational warnings issued by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) of the U. S. Air Force and Navy, located at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Western North Pacific tropical cyclone names are obtained from warnings issued by the Japan Meteorology Agency (JMA), which is the World Meteorological Organization's Regional Specialized Meteorological Center (RSMC) for the western North Pacific basin. The PEAC Center archives South Pacific tropical cyclone names, track coordinates, central pressure, and 10 minute average maximum sustained wind estimates from advisories issued by the Tropical Cyclone Warning Centers at Brisbane, Nadi, and Wellington. The numbering scheme and the 1-minute average maximum sustained wind estimates are taken from warnings issued by the JTWC. There are sometimes differences in the statistics (e.g., storm maximum intensity) for a given tropical cyclone among the agencies that are noted in this summary, but the JTWC values are given precendence when available.