2003 Pacific typhoon season

2003 Pacific typhoon season
Season summary map
Seasonal boundaries
First system formed	January 15, 2003
Last system dissipated	December 27, 2003
Strongest storm
Name	Maemi
• Maximum winds	195 km/h (120 mph) (10-minute sustained)
• Lowest pressure	910 hPa (mbar)
Seasonal statistics
Total depressions	45
Total storms	21
Typhoons	14
Super typhoons	5 (unofficial)
Total fatalities	360 total
Total damage	$6.43 billion (2003 USD)
Related articles
2003 Atlantic hurricane season 2003 Pacific hurricane season 2003 North Indian Ocean cyclone season
Pacific typhoon seasons 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005

The 2003 Pacific typhoon season was a slightly below average yearlong period of tropical cyclogenesis exhibiting the development of 45 tropical depressions, of which 21 became named storms; of those, 14 became typhoons. Though every month with the exception of February and March featured tropical activity, most storms developed from May through October. During the season, tropical cyclones affected the Philippines, Japan, China, the Korean Peninsula, Indochina, and various islands in the western Pacific.

The season ran year-round, with the first storm, Yanyan, developing west of the Marshall Islands on January 15. In April, Typhoon Kujira became one of the longest-lasting Pacific typhoons in history and attained climatological records for its unusually early impacts. Typhoon Imbudo in July caused several deaths and extensive damage across the Philippines and China. In September, Typhoon Maemi became one of the costliest typhoons in recorded history after striking South Korea; Maemi was also the most intense tropical cyclone of the season with a minimum barometric pressure of 910 mbar (hPa; 26.87 inHg). In late November, Typhoon Lupit devastated areas of Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia. The season closed with the dissipation of a tropical depression east of the Philippines on December 27.

The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean, north of the equator and west of the International Date Line. Storms that form east of the date line and north of the equator are called hurricanes; see 2003 Pacific hurricane season. Tropical Storms formed in the entire west Pacific basin are assigned a name by the Tokyo Typhoon Center. Tropical depressions in this basin monitored by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) have the "W" suffix added to their number. Tropical depressions that enter or form in the Philippine area of responsibility are assigned a name by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration or PAGASA. This can often result in the same storm having two names.^[1]