| 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 |
| 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 the most active Pacific typhoon season since 2004, and the deadliest since 1975. It featured Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms and one of the strongest landfalling tropical cyclones in history. It was an above-average season with 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. Despite the activity, most of the first seventeen named storms before mid-September were relatively weak, as only two of them reached typhoon intensity. Total damage amounted to at least $26.41 billion (USD), making it at the time the costliest Pacific typhoon season on record; it is currently the fifth costliest, behind the 2018, 2019, 2023, and 2024 seasons.
Typhoon Soulik in July was the strongest tropical cyclone to affect Taiwan in 2013. In August, Typhoon Utor cost US$3.55 billion damage and killed 97 people, becoming the second deadliest tropical cyclone of the Philippines in 2013. Three systems in August, Pewa, Unala and 03C, continuously crossed the International Date Line from the Central Pacific and entered this basin. Typhoon Haiyan caused catastrophic damage and devastation to the Philippines as a Category 5 super typhoon, killing more than 6,300 people, making it one of the deadliest Pacific typhoons on record. Despite the 31 Tropical Storms forming, the season had an Accumulated Cyclone Energy index rating of 276, lower than the previous season (302 ACE in 2012) and the lowest for a 30 storm season since 1974.
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.