Overview of Tropical Cyclone in April 2022

Two tropical cyclones occurred over the western North Pacific in April 2022.

Malakas formed as a tropical depression over the western North Pacific about 1 320 km east-southeast of Yap on the morning of 7 April. It generally moved northwestwards and intensified gradually. Malakas developed into a typhoon on the morning of 12 April. It turned to move northeastwards towards the vicinity of Iwo Jima. Malakas further intensified into a super typhoon in the small hours on 14 April and reached its peak intensity with an estimated maximum sustained wind of 185 km/h near its centre. Malakas started to weaken afterwards and finally evolved into an extratropical cyclone over the seas east of Japan on 15 April.

Megi formed as a tropical depression over the western North Pacific about 780 km east-southeast of Manila on the morning of 9 April. It moved slowly westwards towards the Philippines and intensified gradually. Megi intensified into a tropical storm the next morning and reached its peak intensity with an estimated maximum sustained wind of 65 km/h near its centre. Megi then lingered over the eastern part of the Philippines and weakened gradually. It finally dissipated over the eastern part of the Philippines on 12 April.

According to press reports, Megi brought torrential rain to the Philippines with flooding and landslides reported in many places. There were at least 224 deaths and 147 missing. Over 2 million people were affected.