Overview of Tropical Cyclones

Two tropical cyclones occurred over the western North Pacific and the South China Sea in December 2018.

A tropical depression formed over the western North Pacific about 1 630 km east-southeast of Manila on the night of 25 December. It took on a west to west-northwesterly track in the direction of the central part of the Philippines with an estimated maximum sustained wind of 55 km/h near its centre. After crossing the central part of the Philippines on 29 December, the tropical depression turned to move southwestwards and degenerated into an area of low pressure the next morning.

According to press reports, the tropical depression brought torrential rain to the Philippines and triggered landslides, leaving 156 deaths, 26 missing and 105 injuries.

Pabuk formed as a tropical depression over the southern part of the South China Sea about 400 km southwest of Nansha Dao on the night of 31 December and tracked west-southwestwards in the direction of the seas south of Vietnam.

Provisional Tropical Cyclone Tracks in December 2018