 Melor at peak intensity near Samar on December 14 | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Formed | December 10, 2015 |
| Dissipated | December 17, 2015 |
| Very strong typhoon | |
| 10-minute sustained (JMA) | |
| Highest winds | 175 km/h (110 mph) |
| Lowest pressure | 935 hPa (mbar); 27.61 inHg |
| Category 4-equivalent typhoon | |
| 1-minute sustained (SSHWS/JTWC) | |
| Highest winds | 230 km/h (145 mph) |
| Lowest pressure | 929 hPa (mbar); 27.43 inHg |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 51 total |
| Damage | $148 million (2015 USD) |
| Areas affected | Caroline Islands, Philippines |
| IBTrACS | |
Part of the 2015 Pacific typhoon season | |
Typhoon Melor, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Nona, was a powerful tropical cyclone that struck the Philippines in December 2015. The twenty-seventh named storm and the eighteenth typhoon of the annual typhoon season, Melor killed 51 people and caused ₱7.04 billion (US$148.3 million) in damage.
The typhoon began developing on December 7 as a low-pressure area 120 km (75 mi) of Chuuk. Soon, it intensified into a tropical depression on December 10, and then into a tropical storm south of Yap, and was named Melor. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAG-ASA) initially decided to name Melor as "Nonoy", but due to political reasons, it was named "Nona" instead. On December 13, Tropical Storm Melor (Nona) became a typhoon, and made its first landfall on Northern Samar. The typhoon made several landfalls in Sorsogon, Burias Island, Romblon, and Oriental Mindoro, before weakening into a tropical storm. It turned southward on entering the South China Sea before weakening into a tropical depression and dissipating in the Sulu Sea.