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Two tropical cyclones occurred over the western North Pacific and South China Sea in December 2012.
After forming over the western North Pacific about 1 740 km southeast of Guam on 26 November, Bopha moved west to west-northwestwards and gradually intensified. Bopha became a typhoon over the western North Pacific about 760 km southeast of Yap on 1 December. It intensified gradually into a super typhoon that evening, reaching its peak intensity in the following two days with an estimated maximum sustained wind of 210 km/h near its centre. Bopha crossed the southern part of the Philippines on 4 December and gradually weakened into a typhoon. It entered the central part of the South China Sea on 5 December and turned to move northwestwards. It intensified again into a severe typhoon over the South China Sea to the southeast of Xisha on 7 December. Bopha turned to move east-northeastwards to the east of Xisha on the following day and gradually weakened into a severe tropical storm. Bopha weakened further into a tropical storm on 9 December and dissipated over the seas west of Luzon that afternoon. According to press reports, Bopha triggered flooding and landslides in the Philippines, where at least 1 067 people were killed, and more than 800 people missing.
Wukong formed as a tropical depression over the western North Pacific about 1 250 km east-southeast of Manila on 24 December and moved westwards. It intensified into a tropical storm on the following day, reaching its peak intensity with an estimated maximum sustained wind of 65 km/h near its centre. Wukong moved west to west-northwestwards across the central Philippines on 26 December. Wukong weakened into a tropical depression on 27 December, entered the central part of the South China Sea and turned to move west-southwestwards. Wukong dissipated over the southern part of the South China Sea to the west-southwest of Nansha on 28 December. Eleven people were killed in the Philippines during the passage of Wukong.
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