Deadly typhoon slams Taiwan, Philippines affecting millions across Asia
Unlike the Atlantic basin, where there are start and end dates for the season, the western Pacific can produce cyclones year-round, but the bulk of activity happens from May through October. The development of the first cyclone was unusually late in the year and solidifies 2024 as being the fifth-slowest start to tropical cyclone activity in the basin.
Flooding impacts Philippines after Typhoon Carina
At least eight people were reported to have been killed, and several others are missing in the Philippines following flooding from a typhoon and a monsoon pattern.
TAIPEI, Taiwan - After the fifth-slowest tropical cyclone season in the western Pacific, Typhoon Gaemi dealt a major blow to Taiwan.
The cyclone initially developed east of the Philippines on July 19, where it was known as Typhoon Carina.
The slow-moving nature of the cyclone, in combination with monsoonal rains, caused widespread flooding in provinces of the Philippines.
The nation's government reported more than 800,000 people were affected by the torrential rainfall, and hundreds of shelters were established.
The cyclone never made landfall in the Southeast Asian nation but was close enough to deliver a glancing blow.
Once the cyclone passed the Philippines to the north and east, the system rapidly strengthened into the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane while off of Taiwan.
Typhoon Gaemi performed a loop off the coast of the island before making landfall early Thursday morning near Nan'ao on the northeast coast.
Taiwan's Central Weather Administration said rainfall tallies quickly eclipsed a foot and there was more rainfall in the forecast.
Schools and government offices were closed across the island, and Taiwan's defense ministry reported that it had to cancel part of a planned military exercise due to the weather.
After the fifth-slowest tropical cyclone season in the western Pacific, Typhoon Gaemi dealt a major blow to Taiwan. (FOX Weather)
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At least a dozen people were reported dead in the Philippines and Taiwan due to the impacts of the extreme weather.
Gaemi was expected to maintain typhoon status through its landfall in eastern China.
State media reported that thousands were being moved out of low-lying areas ahead of the storm's impacts.
The FOX Forecast Center said torrential rains would likely impact some of the same provinces where deadly flooding was reported in recent weeks.
Forecast models showed that rainfall totals could approach two feet on the eastern coast between Shenzhen and Shanghai through the end of the month.
Forecast track for Typhoon Gaemi. (Taiwan's Central Weather Administration / FOX Weather)
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Gaemi was only the second typhoon of the year to form in what has been an unusually inactive season in the western Pacific.
While the Atlantic has a defined season, cyclones can form year-round in the western Pacific, with the majority of activity occurring from May through October.
Typhoon Aghon developed on May 12, marking the fifth-slowest start to any year on record.
The latest date on record for the basin's first cyclone is June 8, observed in 1983.
In an average season, 26 storms typically form, with 16 strengthening into typhoons, but these numbers have not been reached since 2019.