Malaysia is a country in the southern part of Southeast Asia and is located to the south of the South China Sea. The sea separates two regions which consists of Peninsular Malaysia, located within the Malay Peninsula, and East Malaysia, located within the island of Borneo.
Tropical cyclone formation in this area is unusual due to its low latitude and close proximity to the equator, along with the lacking of the Coriolis effect. However, there have been a handful of storms that affected the nation that originated either from the South China Sea or as far back as the Philippine Sea. This would demonstrate that only two cyclones so far have actually made landfall over mainland Malaysia – Greg (1996) and Vamei (2001). Storms that affect this area tend to be around the end of the year, during the months of November and December.
Any storms that have affected the nation, which would also include nearby areas such as the Malay Peninsula (which includes Southern Thailand and the southern tip of Myanmar), Singapore, Brunei or Borneo are listed here.
The geography of Malaysia includes both the physical and the human geography of Malaysia, a Southeast Asian country made up of two major landmasses separated by water—Peninsular Malaysia to the west and East Malaysia to the east—and numerous smaller islands that surround those landmasses. Peninsular Malaysia is on the southernmost part of the Malay Peninsula, south of Thailand, north of Singapore and east of the Indonesian island of Sumatra; East Malaysia comprises most of the northern part of Borneo, and shares land borders with Brunei to the north and Indonesian Borneo to the south.
The 2006 Pacific typhoon season was a near-average season which produced a total of 23 named storms, 15 typhoons, and six super typhoons. The season ran throughout 2006, though most tropical cyclones typically develop between May and October. The season's first named storm, Chanchu, developed on May 9, while the season's last named storm, Trami, dissipated on December 20.
The 2001 Pacific typhoon season was the fourth and final consecutive year with below-average activity, mainly due to the presence of a strong La Niña that had persisted from 1998 to 2001. However, it was more active than the previous seasons, producing twenty-five named storms, sixteen typhoons and three super typhoons, with a near normal Accumulated Cyclone Energy (ACE) of 307.3 units. It ran year-round in 2001, with most tropical cyclones in the northwestern Pacific Ocean tending between May and November.
The 1999 Pacific typhoon season was the last Pacific typhoon season to use English names as storm names. It also featured the lowest number of typhoons on record, with only five reaching this intensity. This was mainly due to a strong La Niña which persisted from last year. The season was also below-average in named storms, with only 20 of such spawning. It had no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1999, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between May and November. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The first named storm, Hilda, developed on January 6, while the last named storm, Gloria, dissipated on November 16.
Tropical Storm Vamei was a Pacific tropical cyclone that formed at about 85 nautical miles from the equator—closer than any other tropical cyclone on record. The last storm of the 2001 Pacific typhoon season, Vamei developed on 26 December at 1.4° N in the South China Sea. It strengthened quickly and made landfall along extreme southeastern Peninsular Malaysia. Vamei rapidly weakened into a remnant low over Sumatra on 28 December, and the remnants eventually re-organized in the North Indian Ocean. Afterward, the storm encountered strong wind shear once again, and dissipated on 1 January 2002.
The 1993 North Indian Ocean cyclone season was the least active on record in the basin, with only four tropical disturbances. There are two main seas in the North Indian Ocean – the Bay of Bengal to the east of the Indian subcontinent and the Arabian Sea to the west. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued advisories for the systems in its official capacity as the local Regional Specialized Meteorological Center, while the Joint Typhoon Warning Center also issued advisories for two of the storms on an unofficial basis. Of the five disturbances tracked by the IMD, two intensified into cyclonic storms.
Severe Tropical Storm Linda, also known as Typhoon Linda, Cyclonic Storm Linda , or in the Philippines as Tropical Depression Openg, was the worst typhoon in southern Vietnam in at least 100 years, killing thousands of people and leaving extensive damage. It formed on October 31, 1997, in the South China Sea, between Indochina and the Philippines. Strengthening as it moved westward, Linda struck extreme southern Vietnam on November 2 with winds of 65 mph (105 km/h), dropping heavy rainfall. Once in the Gulf of Thailand it strengthened further to minimal typhoon status, but weakened to tropical storm strength before crossing the Malay Peninsula into the Bay of Bengal, the first storm to do so in five years. It restrengthened in the Indian Ocean to typhoon status, but increasing wind shear and weakened steering currents caused Linda to dissipate on November 9.
Severe Cyclonic Storm Jal was the fifth named cyclonic storm and the fourth Severe Cyclonic Storm of the 2010 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. Jal developed from a low-pressure area in the South China Sea that organized into a Tropical Depression on October 28. Jal is a Sanskrit word, meaning water. At least 54 people are known to have been killed in India. As a tropical depression, Jal produced torrential rains over parts of Thailand and Malaysia, triggering severe flooding which killed 59 and four people in the two countries respectively. In Sri Lanka, heavy rainfall with strong winds have caused flooding affecting around 80,000 people. In Thailand, Jal was responsible for 78 deaths, being the 4th deadliest tropical cyclone in the country.
Tropical Storm Toraji was a short-lived and minimal tropical cyclone that brought inundating rainfall to areas of Southeast Asia in July 2007. The name Toraji was contributed to the western Pacific typhoon naming list by North Korea and stands for a broad bell flower. The third named storm of the annual typhoon season, Toraji developed from an area of disturbed weather within the South China Sea on July 4. As a result of its northwesterly track, the tropical depression moved over Hainan shortly after tropical cyclogenesis. Upon its emergence into the Gulf of Tonkin on July 5, Toraji quickly intensified into a tropical storm with winds of 65 km/h (40 mph); this would be the tropical cyclone's peak intensity for its entire duration. However, the JMA indicated that tropical storm intensity had been reached a day earlier. On the evening of July 5, Toraji made its final landfall on Dongxing, Guangxi before rapidly deteriorating inland and degenerating into a remnant low-pressure area by the following day.
The 2018 North Indian Ocean cyclone season was one of the most active North Indian Ocean cyclone seasons since 1992, with the formation of fourteen depressions and seven cyclones. The North Indian Ocean cyclone season has no official bounds, but cyclones tend to form between April and December, with the two peaks in May and November. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northern Indian Ocean.
Tropical Storm Toraji was a weak, short-lived system that impacted Vietnam in November 2018. Forming as the twenty-seventh named storm of the 2018 Pacific typhoon season, Toraji developed as a tropical depression to the southeast of Vietnam on November 16. Quickly organising, the system strengthened into a tropical storm the next day. Toraji rapidly weakened thereafter early on November 18, when the storm made landfall over southeastern Vietnam, later dissipating. The storm's remnants moved into the Gulf of Thailand when Toraji re-organised back into a tropical depression on November 20. However Toraji quickly deteriorated on the same day as it moved closer to the Malay Peninsula.
Typhoon Saudel, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Pepito, was a typhoon that affected the Philippines, Vietnam and Southern China in October 2020. It was seventeenth tropical storm and seventh typhoon of the 2020 Pacific typhoon season. The name Saudel was used for the first time, replacing Typhoon Soudelor in 2015, which caused serious damage in Taiwan and Mainland China. Saudel formed from a tropical disturbance east of the Philippines. The disturbance gradually organized and crossed the Philippines as a tropical storm. Once the system emerged into the South China Sea, it began to rapidly organize and intensify, becoming a typhoon early on October 22.
The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula region located over Eastern Asia. The region is divided into North Korea and South Korea.
Tropical Depression Greg was a Pacific tropical cyclone that formed at an unusually low latitude in the South China Sea, and became the worst tropical cyclone to affect Malaysia since reliable records began. The last storm of the 1996 Pacific typhoon season, Greg formed on December 24 on the same two monsoon troughs that also spawned Tropical Storm Fern in the basin and cyclones Ophelia, Phil and Fergus in the Southern Hemisphere. The storm headed an east-southeastward track and despite an unfavorable environment for intensification, Greg strengthened to a tropical storm on Christmas Day. It then reached its peak intensity shortly, with maximum sustained winds of 85 km/h (55 mph) and a minimum barometric pressure of 1002 hPa before making landfall along the northern portion of the Malaysian state of Sabah between 1700 and 1800 UTC on December 26. After crossing the state, it weakened to a tropical depression before passing through Tawi-Tawi in the Philippines on the next day. Wind shear further degraded the system until it dissipated on December 27 on the Celebes Sea, south of Mindanao.
Vietnam is a southeast Asian country, and is the easternmost country of mainland Southeast Asia. It borders the East Sea, hence, seeing the increased likeliness of tropical cyclones. Tropical cyclones in this area are considered to be part of the Northwest Pacific basin, and therefore, storms here are considered as typhoons.