Typhoon Mangkhut

Pacific typhoon in 2018

Typhoon Mangkhut (Ompong)
Mangkhut near peak intensity on September 12
Meteorological history
FormedSeptember 6, 2018
DissipatedSeptember 17, 2018
Violent typhoon
10-minute sustained (JMA)
Highest winds205 km/h (125 mph)
Lowest pressure905 hPa (mbar); 26.72 inHg
Category 5-equivalent super typhoon
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/JTWC)
Highest winds285 km/h (180 mph)
Lowest pressure896 hPa (mbar); 26.46 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities134 total
Damage$3.77 billion (2018 USD)
Areas affectedGuam, Northern Mariana Islands, Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, China, Vietnam, Japan
IBTrACSEdit this at Wikidata

Part of the 2018 Pacific typhoon season

Typhoon Mangkhut, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Ompong, was a powerful and catastrophic Category 5 tropical cyclone that caused extensive damage in Guam, the Philippines and South China in September 2018. It was the strongest typhoon to strike Luzon since Megi in 2010, and the strongest to make landfall anywhere in the Philippines since Meranti in 2016.[1] Mangkhut was also the strongest typhoon to affect Hong Kong since Ellen in 1983.[2]

Mangkhut [nb 1], named for the Thai word for the mangosteen fruit, was the thirty-second tropical depression, twenty-second tropical storm, ninth typhoon, and fourth super typhoon of the 2018 Pacific typhoon season. It made landfall in the Philippine province of Baggao, Cagayan late on September 14, as a Category 5-equivalent super typhoon, and subsequently impacted Hong Kong and southern China.[3] Mangkhut was also the third-strongest tropical cyclone worldwide in 2018.

Over the course of its existence, Mangkhut left behind a trail of severe destruction in its wake. The storm caused a total of $3.77 billion (2018 US) in damage across multiple nations, along with at least 134 fatalities: 127 in the Philippines,[4][5] six in mainland China,[6] and one in Taiwan.[7]

Meteorological history

Map plotting the storm's track and intensity, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
  Tropical depression (≤38 mph, ≤62 km/h)
  Tropical storm (39–73 mph, 63–118 km/h)
  Category 1 (74–95 mph, 119–153 km/h)
  Category 2 (96–110 mph, 154–177 km/h)
  Category 3 (111–129 mph, 178–208 km/h)
  Category 4 (130–156 mph, 209–251 km/h)
  Category 5 (≥157 mph, ≥252 km/h)
  Unknown
Storm type
circle Tropical cyclone
square Subtropical cyclone
triangle Extratropical cyclone, remnant low, tropical disturbance, or monsoon depression