2020 Pacific typhoon season

The 2020 Pacific typhoon season was an event in which typhoons formed in the Pacific Ocean. The season lasts all year, although most tropical cyclones form between May and October. The season's first tropical cyclone formed on May 10, making it the sixth-latest start in the basin on record.

Typhoon Vongfong (Ambo), the season’s first storm, became a Category 3 typhoon and struck the Philippines, causing extensive damages during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Season summary

The first few months of 2020 were extremely quiet, with no tropical systems developing between the months of January and April. On May 10, the season saw its first tropical system with the development of Ambo, making it the sixth-latest starting season on record, as well as the latest since 2016. Two days later, the system strengthened to the first officially named tropical storm of the season, Vongfong. Vongfong then hit the Philippines at peak intensity, and weakened soon after landfall.

After Vongfong, a month of inactivity ensued, and on June 10, a new tropical depression formed off the coast of Samar, and was named Butchoy by the PAGASA a day later. Butchoy made landfall in the Philippines as the JTWC issued a tropical cyclone formation alert for it. It then got upgraded to a tropical storm, and impacted Hong Kong, Macau and parts of China upon landfall.

Typhoon Vongfong

Vongfong at Category 3 nearing the Philippines.

A low-pressure area near Micronesia slowly organized over the course of a few hours, and developed into a tropical depression soon after. It became the first tropical cyclone to form in the Western Pacific in 2020, and PAGASA named it "Ambo". Favourable sea temperatures, low wind shear and excellent vertical outflow made the system intensify into a tropical storm, then the JMA named it "Vongfong".

Less than a day later, when convection started to rapidly organize around the storm's center, and a well-defined rain band at the northwest side of the storm, JTWC upgraded it to a typhoon. Vongfong made landfall on Samar Island at around 12 PM Philippines Time. It began to weaken because of many landfalls over the Philippines, and emerged into the South China Sea on May 17. It turned north and dissipated due to high wind shear the next day, just south of Taiwan.

Tropical Storm Nuri

On June 10, the JMA began monitoring on a weak tropical depression that had developed to the east of the Philippine island of Samar in Visayas. During the next day, the PAGASA began tracking the system, giving the local name Butchoy. The storm then made its first landfall in Polillo Island in Quezon at 5:30 pm PHT, and making its second landfall in Infanta, Quezon shortly thereafter. Soon after, the JTWC issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert for the storm. Afterwards, the JTWC officially upgraded Butchoy to a tropical depression, and designated it as 02W. With a favorable environment with low vertical wind shear, moderate equatorial outflow and 30–31 °C sea surface temperatures, Butchoy started to intensify in the South China Sea, becoming a tropical storm and receiving the name Nuri from the JMA later on the same day. Then, PAGASA issued their final warning on Nuri as it exited the Philippine Area of Responsibility. By the next day, Nuri intensified further and subsequently peaked in intensity, with the JMA analyzing the storm's peak winds of 75 kilometres per hour (47 mph). Six hours later, the JTWC upgraded Nuri to a tropical storm. However, later in the same day, the JTWC downgraded Nuri into a tropical depression, citing that the storm has drifted into high vertical wind shear. The JMA followed suit, downgrading Nuri into a depression. The JTWC issued their final warning on Nuri as the storm subsequently made landfall in Yanjiang, China. The JMA followed suit six hours later, issuing their final warning on the system.

The PAGASA issued Tropical Cyclone Signal No. 1 for western Mindanao, southern Luzon, and Visayas on June 11 as Butchoy neared the Philippines. The combination of the system and prevailing southwesterly winds brought showers and thunderstorms across the Philippines. Heavy rainfall in Albay led to the activation of disaster risk management officials and other emergency assets. The rains from the tropical depression prompted PAGASA to declare the start of the rainy season in the Philippines on June 12, 2020, which was also during the country's Independence Day. In Hong Kong, Nuri brought heavy rain. One person also drowned due to rough waters.

Tropical Depression Carina

A tropical depression tracked by PAGASA and Japan Meteorological Agency