This month will have been the September with the fewest cyclones since modern record-keeping began if no other tropical storm develops before the end of the month, meteorologist Chia Hsin-hsing (賈新興) said on Monday.
A total of 13 named storms have formed in the Pacific so far this year, the 11th of which — Typhoon Haikui — was the first to make landfall on Taiwan proper in four years, Central Weather Administration data shows.
The latest system, Tropical Storm Yun-yeung, formed on Sept. 4 and remained east of Japan’s Ryukyu Islands before making landfall in central Japan.
Photo: CNA
If only one storm ends up forming this month, it will have been the quietest September in the Pacific since at least 1951, Chia said on Facebook.
There is a low-pressure system east of the Philippines that might form into a tropical storm as soon as Saturday (Sept. 30), but it is unlikely to strengthen into a typhoon, he said.
The fewest storms ever recorded in September is two, in 1951, 1960, 1973, 1983 and 1986, he said.
The most was in 1988, 1994 and 2013, when eight storms formed in September alone, he added.
Additionally, only 10 storms formed between July and this month, far fewer than the 14 on average and the third-fewest since 1951, Chia said.
The 13 total storms so far this year is also behind the 18.6 historical average and the fourth-fewest since 1951, he added.
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