Since 1947, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) has classified all typhoons in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean with wind speeds of at least 130knots—the equivalent of a strong Category 4 on the Saffir–Simpson scale, as super typhoons.[1] Since that year, 314 super typhoons have occurred in the basin, the latest being Typhoon Bolaven in 2023. Only two Pacific typhoon seasons have not included at least 1 super typhoon, which were the 1949 Pacific typhoon season and 1974 Pacific typhoon season. The most typhoons to have reached this intensity in a single season is tied between 1965 and 1997, with 11 becoming super typhoons.
See also: Typhoon. All typhoons that reach an intensity of at least 130kn are referred to by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center as super typhoons. The first typhoon to be identified as a "super typhoon" by the JTWC was Typhoon Rosalind of 1947, a high-end Category 4-equivalent typhoon.[2] From there on, 4 years later, Typhoon Iris in 1951 would become the first Category 5-equivalent typhoon referred to as a super typhoon ever recorded.[3] Tropical cyclones of these violent intensities occur much more often in the Western Pacific, due to the fact it is one of the most active tropical cyclone basins on the planet owing to the fact it has the warmest sea surface temperatures, which tropical cyclones need to thrive.[4] [5] Sufficient sea surface temperatures and the frequent passing of the Madden–Julian oscillation allow these cyclones to quickly intensify and blossom into violent storms.
Since the first super typhoon was designated, approximately 314 other super typhoons have formed to date. The strongest (and also the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded) was Typhoon Tip in 1979, the costliest (also the costliest typhoon on record) was Typhoon Hagibis in 2019, the longest-lived was Typhoon Rita in 1972, and the deadliest was Typhoon Haiyan in the record-breaking 2013 Pacific typhoon season. Additionally, the earliest-forming super typhoon was Typhoon Karen in January 1948.
| Name (not fake) | Dates as a super typhoon | Duration (hours) | Pressure | Sustained wind speeds | Areas affected | Deaths | Damage (USD) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 918hPa | None | None | None | First recorded super typhoon | |||||
| 936hPa | None | None | None | First and only super typhoon recorded in the month of January | |||||
| 922hPa | None | None | None | ||||||
| Iris | 909hPa | 9 | $9.3 million | First category 5-equivalent super typhoon | |||||
| 910hPa | None | >$1.6 million | |||||||
| 914hPa | 10 | Unknown | |||||||
| 920hPa | None | None | Unknown | ||||||
| 930hPa | Unknown | Unknown | |||||||
| Hester | 950hPa | None | None | ||||||
| 910hPa | Unknown | Unknown | |||||||
| 885hPa | Unknown | Unknown | |||||||
| 900hPa | Japan | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| 965hPa | Unknown | Unknown | |||||||
| 935hPa | None | None | None | ||||||
| 890hPa | Unknown | Unknown | |||||||
| † | 901hPa | Japan | 107 | Unknown | |||||
| † | 900hPa | Philippines, Hong Kong | Unknown | Unknown | One of the first recorded Category 5 typhoons in the South China Sea | ||||
| 940hPa | Unknown | Unknown | |||||||
| 925hPa | Unknown | Unknown | |||||||
| 919hPa | Unknown | Unknown | |||||||
| 930hPa | Unknown | Unknown | |||||||
| 930hPa | Japan | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| 940hPa | None | None | |||||||
| 925hPa | None | None | None | ||||||
| 935hPa | None | None | None | ||||||
| 915hPa | 4,935 | Unknown | Deadliest typhoon of the 1950s | ||||||
| 930hPa | 77 | $8 million | |||||||
| 936hPa | Unknown | Unknown | |||||||
| 940hPa | Unknown | Unknown | |||||||
| 952hPa | None | None | None | ||||||
| 900hPa | Philippines, Taiwan, East China, Japan | 86 | $20 million | ||||||
| 905hPa | Unknown | Unknown | |||||||
| 930hPa | None | None | None | ||||||
| 900hPa | Japan | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| 960hPa | Japan | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| 900hPa | None | None | None | ||||||
| 940hPa | None | Minor | |||||||
| 940hPa | None | None | None | Strongest typhoon in May at the time, before being surpassed by Typhoon Damrey in 2000 | |||||
| † | 925hPa | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| 925hPa | Japan | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| 935hPa | Japan | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| 905hPa | Unknown | Unknown | |||||||
| 920hPa | Japan | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| 877hPa | Japan | 1,269 | $50 million | Most intense Pacific typhoon at the time, before being surpassed by Typhoon June in 1975. | |||||
| 920hPa | None | None | None | ||||||
| 885hPa | None | None | |||||||
| 905hPa | >2,000 | >$102 million | |||||||
| 895hPa | East China, Japan | >5,000 | >$261 million | One of the strongest typhoons to ever strike Japan | |||||
| 905hPa | 46 | >$300 thousand | |||||||
| 915hPa | Japan | None | None | ||||||
| Gilda | 925hPa | 23 | $1.5 million | ||||||
| 51 systems | January 13, 1948 – December 19, 1959 | 877 mb | 325km/h | 13,562 deaths | $435.7 million |
| Name | Dates as a super typhoon | Duration (hours) | Pressure | Sustained wind speeds | Areas affected | Deaths | Damage (USD) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 910hPa | None | None | |||||||
| 928hPa | 7 | Unknown | First super typhoon name retired[6] | ||||||
| Tess | March 28–29, 1961 | 30 hours | 940 hPa (27.75 inHg) | 240km/h | None | None | None | ||
| Pamela | September 11, 1961 | 18 hours | 910 hPa (26.87 inHg) | 285km/h | Taiwan, East China | 98 dead, 27 missing | $5 million | ||
| Nancy | September 9–15, 1961 | 144 hours | 882 hPa (26.05 inHg) | 345km/h | Guam, Ryukyu Islands, Japan | 202 dead, 8 missing | $500 million | Once considered to have had the strongest wind speeds ever recorded in a tropical cyclone prior to more reliable measurements from Hurricane Patricia[7] | |
| Tilda | September 29–October 2, 1961 | 54 hours | 925 hPa (27.31 inHg) | 260km/h | Ryukyu Islands, East China | 2 | Unknown | ||
| Violet | October 6–8, 1961 | 60 hours | 895 hPa (26.42 inHg) | 335km/h | Japan | 2 | None | ||
| Dot | October 9–12, 1961 | 66 hours | 930 hPa (27.46 inHg) | 260km/h | Guam, Northern Mariana Islands | None | Unknown |
| Name | Dates as a super typhoon | Duration (hours) | Pressure | Sustained wind speeds | Areas affected | Deaths | Damage (USD) | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 885hPa | 69 | $709 million | [8] [9] [10] [11] | |||||
| 920hPa | Micronesia, Philippines, Japan | 17 | $287 million | [12] [13] [14] | ||||
| 930hPa | Micronesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, China, South Korea, North Korea, Russia | 22 | $480 million | [15] [16] [17] [18] | ||||
| 925hPa | Philippines, Taiwan, China, | 38 | $1.49 billion | |||||
| 935hPa | 18 | $250 million | ||||||
| 935hPa | 3 | $100 million | ||||||
| 900hPa | 6 | $361 million | ||||||
| 905hPa | 2 | $27.4 million | ||||||
| 930hPa | 1,901 | $1.16 billon | ||||||
| 925hPa | 97 | $3.55 billion | ||||||
| 910hPa | 39 | $4.32 billion | ||||||
| 920hPa | None | $150,000 | ||||||
| 905hPa | None | None | ||||||
| 905hPa | 6,352 | $2.98 billion | ||||||
| 930hPa | 3 | $632 million | ||||||
| 935hPa | 225 | $8.08 billion | ||||||
| 915hPa | 12 | $72.8 million | ||||||
| 915hPa | None | None | None | |||||
| 935hPa | 11 | $100 million | ||||||
| 900hPa | 9 | $161 million | ||||||
| 910hPa | Japan | None | Minimal | |||||
| 905hPa | 18 | $114 million | ||||||
| 940hPa | None | None | None | |||||
| 910hPa | 5 | $8.5 million | ||||||
| 920hPa | Caroline Islands, Philippines, Taiwan, Japan | 2 | $23.8 million | |||||
| 925hPa | 1 | $13.5 million | ||||||
| 925hPa | 2 | $209 million | ||||||
| 900hPa | Mariana Islands, Philippines, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan | 59 | $4.09 billion | |||||
| 925hPa | None | None | ||||||
| 925hPa | Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, East China | 3 | $406 million | |||||
| 925hPa | Northern Mariana Islands, Philippines, Taiwan, Ryukyu Islands | 62 | $948 million | |||||
| 900hPa | Caroline Islands, Mariana Islands, Philippines, Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, East China | 111 | $1.89 billion | |||||
| 895hPa | 47 | $4.79 billion | ||||||
| 905hPa | Mariana Islands, South Korea, Japan, Russian Far East | 10 | $129 million | |||||
| 925hPa | None | Unknown | ||||||
| 900hPa | Caroline Islands, Philippines, Taiwan, China, Japan | 19 | $972 million | |||||
| 915hPa | Caroline Islands, Philippines, Vietnam | 13 | $123 million | |||||
| 935hPa | Japan | 2 | $100 million | |||||
| 915hPa | Caroline Islands, Philippines, Japan, South Korea | 17 | $2 billion | |||||
| 915hPa | Caroline Islands, Mariana Islands | 2 | Unknown | |||||
| 915hPa | Mariana Islands, Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan, China | 2 | $673 million | |||||
| 915hPa | Northern Mariana Islands, Taiwan, Japan, Russian Far East | 21 | $14 billion | |||||
| 905hPa | Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, China, Vietnam, Japan | 134 | $3.77 billion | |||||
| 915hPa | 4 | $2.69 billion | [19] [20] | |||||
| 900hPa | 3 | $171.5 million | [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] | |||||
| 900hPa | 30 | $855 million | [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] | |||||
| † | 920hPa | None | $3.3 million | [31] [32] | ||||
| 925hPa | 250 kilometres per hour (155 mph) | 105 | $9.28 billion | [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] | ||||
| † | 915hPa | 99 | $15 billion | [42] | ||||
| 935hPa | 13 | $200 million | ||||||
| 905hPa | None | None | None | |||||
| Dates as a super typhoon | Duration (hours) | Pressure | Sustained wind speeds | Areas affected | Deaths | Damage (USD) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 910hPa | 250 kilometres per hour (155 mph) | [43] [44] | |||||||
| 905hPa | [45] [46] [47] | ||||||||
| 895hPa | |||||||||
| Chanthu | 905hPa | ||||||||
| Rai | 915hPa | ||||||||
| Hinnamnor | 920hPa | ||||||||
| September 9–20, 2022 | 18 hours | 910 hPa (26.87 inHg) | 250 kilometres per hour (155 mph) | Japan, South Korea | 6 | $6 billion | |||
| Noru | September 21 – October 1, 2022 | 9 hours | 940 hPa (27.76 inHg) | 260 kilometres per hour (160 mph) | Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia | 40 | $110 million | ||
| May 23 – June 3, 2023 | 36 hours | 905 hPa (26.72 inHg) | 295 kilometres per hour (185 mph) | Federated States of Micronesia, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands | 6 | 1 | |||
| Doksuri | July 19–29, 2023 | 9 hours | 925 hPa (27.32 inHg) | 240 kilometres per hour (150 mph) | Philippines, Taiwan, China, Vietnam | 137 | $28 billion | ||
| Saola | August 29–31, 2023 | ~45 hours | 920 hPa (26.91 inHg) | 250 kilometres per hour (155 mph) | Hong Kong, Macau, South China, Philippines, Taiwan | 3 | $545 million | ||
| Bolaven | October 4-14, 2023 | 30 hours | 900 hPa (26.58 inHg) | 285 kilometres per hour (180 mph) | Northern Mariana Islands, Guam | None | None |