| 2013 Pacific typhoon season | |
|---|---|
 Season summary map | |
| Seasonal boundaries | |
| First system formed | January 1, 2013 |
| Last system dissipated | December 4, 2013 |
| Strongest storm | |
| Name | Haiyan |
| • Maximum winds | 230 km/h (145 mph) (10-minute sustained) |
| • Lowest pressure | 895 hPa (mbar) |
| Seasonal statistics | |
| Total depressions | 48 official, 1 unofficial |
| Total storms | 31 |
| Typhoons | 13 |
| Super typhoons | 5 (unofficial) |
| Total fatalities | 6,829 total |
| Total damage | $26.43 billion (2013 USD) (Fourth-costliest Pacific typhoon season on record) |
| Related articles | |
The 2013 Pacific typhoon season was a devastating and catastrophic season that was the most active since 2004, and the deadliest since 1975. It featured Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms in history, as well as one of the strongest to make landfall on record. It featured 31 named storms, 13 typhoons, and five super typhoons. The season's first named storm, Sonamu, developed on January 4 while the season's last named storm, Podul, dissipated on November 15. Collectively, the storms caused 6,829 fatalities, while total damage amounted to at least $26.41 billion (USD), making it, at the time, the costliest Pacific typhoon season on record, until it was surpassed five years later. As of 2024, it is currently ranked as the fifth-costliest typhoon season.
In mid-July, Typhoon Soulik in July was the strongest tropical cyclone to affect Taiwan in 2013. In mid-August, Typhoon Utor cost US$3.55 billion worth of damage and killed 97 people, after carving a path of destruction across China and the Philippines. In mid-September, Typhoon Usagi struck China's Guangdong province and caused at least $4 billion in total damage. Two weeks later, Typhoon Fitow struck China's Fujian province and wrought over $10 billion worth of damage in total, making it, at that time, China's costliest storm in history; it has since been surpassed by Typhoon Doksuri ten years later.
The season's most powerful and deadliest storm was Typhoon Haiyan. Making landfall in the Philippines as a Category 5 super typhoon in early November, it wrought catastrophic damage and devastation across the country, particularly in the islands of Samar and Leyte, where extensive loss of life was recorded. With over 6,300 fatalities, Haiyan is the ninth-deadliest Pacific typhoon on record and the deadliest in Philippine history.
The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean to the north of the equator between 100°E and the 180th meridian. Within the northwestern Pacific Ocean, there are two separate agencies that assign names to tropical cyclones, which often results in a storm having two names. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) will name a tropical cyclone should it be judged to have 10-minute sustained wind speeds of at least 65 km/h (40 mph) anywhere in the basin, whilst the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) assigns names to tropical cyclones which move into or form as tropical depressions in their area of responsibility, located between 115°E and 135°E and between 5°N and 25°N, regardless of whether or not the tropical cyclone has already been given a name by the JMA. Tropical depressions monitored by the United States' Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) are given a number with a "W" suffix.