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 Krathon at peak intensity while entering the South China Sea on October 1 | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Formed | September 26, 2024 |
| Violent typhoon | |
| 10-minute sustained (JMA) | |
| Highest winds | 195 km/h (120 mph) |
| Lowest pressure | 915 hPa (mbar); 27.02 inHg |
| Category 4-equivalent super typhoon | |
| 1-minute sustained (SSHWS/JTWC) | |
| Highest winds | 240 km/h (150 mph) |
| Lowest pressure | 927 hPa (mbar); 27.37 inHg |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 4 |
| Injuries | 227 |
| Missing | 5 |
| Damage | >$12.9 million (2024 USD) |
| Areas affected | Philippines, Taiwan |
Part of the 2024 Pacific typhoon season | |
Typhoon Krathon, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Julian, is a powerful and erratic tropical cyclone that impacted Taiwan and the Philippines in late September and early October 2024. Krathon was the first storm to make landfall on Taiwan's densely populated western plains since Typhoon Thelma in 1977, and it was also the wettest tropical cyclone to strike Basco, Batanes, exceeding two months' worth of rainfall for September and surpassing the previous record set by Typhoon Ruth in 1991.
The eighteenth named storm and the second violent typhoon of the annual typhoon season, Krathon, which means Sandoricum koetjape, developed into a tropical depression near Kadena Air Base, Japan, on September 26, and was classified as a tropical storm by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) on September 28 as it moved southwestward along the southeastern periphery. Krathon reached minimal typhoon status on September 29 after developing a broad, ragged-eye. The typhoon moved north-northwestward between two subtropical high before shifting west-northwestward and passing near Sabtang, Batanes. Early on October 1, the JMA reported that the storm had reached its peak intensity, with ten-minute sustained winds of 195 km/h (120 mph) and a central pressure of 915 hPa (27.02 inHg). It subsequently peaked as a Category 4-equivalent super typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with one-minute sustained winds of 240 km/h (150 mph). As Krathon moved into the northern South China Sea, an eyewall replacement cycle began, which was evident in radar imagery, with the secondary eyewall nearly encircling the inner eye. Once the eyewall replacement cycle was complete, Krathon began warming cloud tops and displayed a weakened cloud-filled eye feature that caused upwelling and a decrease in ocean heat content, and it was moving southwest of Taiwan, located between a subtropical ridge to the east and another ridge over southern China and northern Vietnam. The following day, satellite imagery revealed that the system remained symmetrical; however, warming cloud tops became exposed due to increasing vertical wind shear. On October 3, Krathon made landfall near Siaogang District in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, with its spiral bands of deep convection gradually weakening as it moved north-northeastward into central Taiwan, near the western edge of the Central Mountain Range.
Ahead of the storm, a Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal was issued for various areas in the Philippines, with a red alert for Calayan and Santa Ana in Cagayan. Krathon resulted in at least two deaths, three people missing, and eight injured in the Philippines. Meanwhile, Taiwan's Central Weather Administration issued maritime warnings for the Bashi Channel, leading to the evacuation of nearly 10,000 people and the mobilization of nearly 40,000 soldiers for rescue efforts. At least 219 people in the island were injured by the storm, while five others were reported missing and four people died. Krathon left at least US$12.9 million in damages.