The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula region located over Eastern Asia. The region is divided into North Korea and South Korea.
Climatologically, in the Northwest Pacific basin, most tropical cyclones tend to develop between May and October. Typhoons impacting this region are not uncommon, with the bulk of these storms doing so in the third quarter (July to September). This article includes any tropical cyclone of any intensity that affected the Korean Peninsula.
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The following list are the ten most deadly storms that impacted the Korean Peninsula. Total number of deaths recorded are only from the country itself.
Rank | Name | Year | Number of Deaths |
---|---|---|---|
1 | "1936 Korea typhoon" | 1936 | 1,516 |
2 | Sarah | 1959 | 669 |
3 | Lionrock | 2016 | 525 |
4 | Rusa | 2002 | 236 |
5 | Ewiniar | 2006 | 203 |
6 | Thelma | 1987 | 123 |
7 | Maemi | 2003 | 117 |
8 | Olga | 1999 | 106 |
9 | Gladys | 1991 | 90 |
10 | Khanun | 2012 | 89 |
The 2003 Pacific typhoon season was a slightly below average yearlong period of tropical cyclogenesis exhibiting the development of 45 tropical depressions, of which 21 became named storms; of those, 14 became typhoons. Though every month with the exception of February and March featured tropical activity, most storms developed from May through October. During the season, tropical cyclones affected the Philippines, Japan, China, the Korean Peninsula, Indochina, and various islands in the western Pacific.
The 1956 Pacific typhoon season has no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1956, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between June and December. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.
Typhoon Rusa was the most powerful typhoon to strike South Korea in 43 years. It was the 21st JTWC tropical depression, the 15th named storm, and the 10th typhoon of the 2002 Pacific typhoon season. It developed on August 22 from the monsoon trough in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, well to the southeast of Japan. For several days, Rusa moved to the northwest, eventually intensifying into a powerful typhoon. On August 26, the storm moved across the Amami Islands of Japan, where Rusa left 20,000 people without power and caused two fatalities. Across Japan, the typhoon dropped torrential rainfall peaking at 902 mm (35.5 in) in Tokushima Prefecture.
Typhoon Maemi, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Pogi, was the most powerful typhoon to strike South Korea since record-keeping began in the country in 1904. Maemi formed on 4 September 2003, from a disturbance in a monsoon trough in the western Pacific Ocean. It slowly intensified into Tropical Storm Maemi while moving northwestward, becoming a typhoon on September 8. That day, favorable conditions facilitated more rapid strengthening; the storm developed a well-defined eye and reached peak maximum sustained winds of 195 km/h (121 mph). While near peak intensity, Maemi decelerated and began turning to the north-northeast. Soon after, the eyewall passed over the Japanese island of Miyako-jima on September 10 and produced an air pressure reading of 912 mbar (26.9 inHg), the fourth-lowest recorded in the nation. Due to warm waters, Maemi was able to maintain much of its intensity before it made landfall just west of Busan, South Korea, on September 12. The typhoon became extratropical in the Sea of Japan the next day, although its remnants persisted for several days, lashing northern Japan with strong winds.
Typhoon Ewiniar, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Ester, was the third named storm of the 2006 Pacific typhoon season and one that lasted for twelve days as a tropical cyclone, moving on a generally northward track. During its lifespan, it affected Palau, Yap, eastern China, the Ryūkyū Islands of Japan, South Korea as well as North Korea, briefly threatening to make landfall in North Korea before doing so in South Korea. Ewiniar is responsible for at least 181 deaths. However, an unofficial report stated that up to 10,000 people had been killed by flooding in North Korea, with 4,000 people missing.
Severe Tropical Storm Meari, known in the Philippines as Severe Tropical Storm Falcon, was an unusually large tropical cyclone that caused significant damage from the Philippines to the Korean Peninsula in June 2011.
The 2019 Pacific typhoon season was the costliest Pacific typhoon season on record, just ahead of the previous year and 2023. The season featured fairly above-average tropical cyclone activity for the second consecutive year, producing 29 named storms, 17 typhoons, and five super typhoons, also, it was the final season of the Western Pacific's consecutive active typhoon seasons that started in 2013. The season's first named storm, Pabuk, reached tropical storm status on January 1, becoming the earliest-forming tropical storm of the western Pacific Ocean on record, breaking the previous record that was held by Typhoon Alice in 1979. The season's first typhoon, Wutip, reached typhoon status on February 20. Wutip further intensified into a super typhoon on February 23, becoming the strongest February typhoon on record, and the strongest tropical cyclone recorded in February in the Northern Hemisphere. The season's last named storm, Phanfone, dissipated on December 29 after it made landfall in the Philippines.
Typhoon Judy of July 1989 was a strong tropical cyclone that caused extensive damage and loss of life in Japan, South Korea and the eastern Soviet Union. Originating from a monsoon trough on July 21, Judy began as a tropical depression west of the Northern Mariana Islands. Tracking west-northwest, the system gradually intensified into a tropical storm and was given the name Judy on July 23. By this time, the storm had turned due north. Two days later, Judy attained typhoon status as it began a gradual turn to the west-northwest. Late on July 25, the storm peaked with winds of 165 km/h (105 mph). Striking Kyushu on July 27, interaction with the island's mountainous terrain caused Judy to quickly weaken as it neared South Korea. The weakened storm struck the country west of Pusan the following day before losing its identity near the border with North Korea. The remnants of Judy were last noted over the Sea of Japan.
Typhoon Saomai, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Osang, was a long-tracked and intense tropical cyclone that brought flooding rainfall in Japan and the Korean Peninsula in September 2000. The torrential precipitation in Japan was considered some of the worst in the past century.
Severe Tropical Storm Nakri, known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Inday, was a large, long-lived, and slow-moving tropical cyclone that produced prolific rains over Japan and South Korea in early August 2014.
Tropical Storm Danas, known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Falcon, was a tropical cyclone that caused minimal damages throughout its path originating as a low-pressure area near the Mariana Islands. It is the fifth named tropical cyclone and the sixth named storm by the PAGASA of the 2019 Pacific typhoon season.
Typhoon Hagupit, known in the Philippines as Severe Tropical Storm Dindo, was a Category 1 typhoon that heavily impacted Eastern China and South Korea in August 2020. It was the fourth named storm and the second typhoon of the annual typhoon season. The JMA began monitoring a tropical depression that developed in the Philippine Sea on July 30, with PAGASA assigning the name “Dindo” to the storm, later that day it strengthened into a tropical storm, according to the JMA. PAGASA issued its final advisory on Dindo early on August 3, as it moved out of their area of responsibility. Hagupit intensified into a typhoon on August 3, before making landfall in Wenzhou, China at 19:30 UTC that day at peak intensity. Hagupit subsequently weakened over China, before degenerating into an extratropical low on August 5. Hagupit's remnants persisted for another several days, as the storm moved eastward, before dissipating south of Alaska on August 14.
Typhoon Bavi, known in the Philippines as Severe Tropical Storm Igme, was a powerful tropical cyclone that made landfall in North Korea in August 2020. The eighth named storm and third typhoon of the 2020 Pacific typhoon season, Bavi formed from a low pressure area depression on August 21 to the north of the Philippines and strengthened into a tropical storm on August 22. Bavi gradually strengthened as it skirted Taiwan and Okinawa, and became a typhoon on August 24. Passing over warm waters, Bavi turned to northwest and reached its peak intensity near Jeju Island on August 26. Thereafter, increasing wind shear and cooler waters caused Bavi to quickly weaken. Bavi made landfall in North Korea on August 27, and became an extratropical cyclone shortly thereafter.