The 2020 Pacific typhoon season was the first in a series of below-average Pacific typhoon seasons which persisted until 2023. It was also the first below-average tropical cyclone season since 2014, a consequence of La Niña that persisted from the summer of the year. The first half of the season was unusually inactive, with only four systems, two named storms, and one typhoon at the end of July. Additionally, the JTWC recorded no tropical cyclone development in the month of July, the first such occurrence since reliable records began. Despite that, this season featured Typhoon Goni, which made the strongest landfall worldwide in terms of 1-minute wind speed. The season also had the seventh-latest start in the basin on record, slightly behind 1973, with the season's first tropical system not forming until May. The season's first named tropical cyclone, Vongfong, developed on May 8, while the season's last named tropical cyclone, Krovanh, dissipated on December 24. However, the season's last system was an unnamed tropical depression, which dissipated on December 29.
This timeline documents all of the events of the 2020 Pacific typhoon season. The season ran throughout the year, though most tropical cyclones formed between May and November. The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean, north of the equator between 100°E and the International Date Line . Tropical storms that form in the entire Western Pacific basin are assigned a name by the Japan Meteorological Agency . Tropical depressions that form in this basin are given a number with a "W" suffix by the United States' Joint Typhoon Warning Center . In addition, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration assigns names to tropical cyclones (including tropical depressions) that enter or form in the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR). These names, however, are not in common use outside of the Philippines.
During the season, 32 systems were designated as tropical depressions by either the JMA, PAGASA, JTWC, or other National Meteorological and Hydrological Services such as the China Meteorological Administration and the Hong Kong Observatory . 23 of these tropical depressions became named storms, and 10 of these named storms intensified to typhoons. Furthermore, 2 of those strengthened further to super-typhoons.
Timeline
January January 1 00:00 UTCThe 2020 Pacific typhoon season officially begins, though no tropical cyclones have formed until May.
May May 8 06:00 UTC at The JMA starts tracking a tropical depression near Palau with a central pressure of . 18:00 UTC at The JMA assesses the tropical depression near Palau has re-attained a central pressure of .
May 9 06:00 UTC at The tropical depression west of Palau re-attains a central pressure of as it slowly moves northwestward. 18:00 UTC (02:00 PHT, May 10) at The PAGASA starts to track the tropical depression west of Palau, naming it Ambo.
May 10 06:00 UTC at Tropical Depression Ambo attains a lower central pressure of , per the JMA. 18:00 UTC at The JMA analyzes Ambo's central pressure has dipped back to a central pressure of as it slowly moves while remaining east of Mindanao.
May 11 06:00 UTC at Ambo's central pressure continues to fluctuate as it re-deepens back to while moving generally northward, per the JMA. 18:00 UTC At Ambo re-attains a central pressure of as it shifts to the north-northeastward. At The JTWC starts tracking on Ambo, designating it as 01W.
May 12 06:00 UTC at The JTWC assesses 01W (Ambo) has deepened to a central pressure of as it gradually turns to the northwest. 12:00 UTC (20:00 PHT) at The JMA and PAGASA report 01W (Ambo) has intensified to a tropical storm, with the former naming it Vongfong. At The JTWC also upgrades Vongfong (Ambo) to a tropical storm.
May 13 00:00 UTC At The JMA further upgrades Vongfong (Ambo) to a severe tropical storm as it turns westward. (08:00 PHT) at The PAGASA follows suit, upgrading Vongfong (Ambo) to a severe tropical storm. 06:00 UTC at The JTWC assesses Vongfong (Ambo) has strengthened to a Category 1 typhoon. 12:00 UTC At The JMA reports Vongfong (Ambo) has intensified to a typhoon. At The JTWC upgrades Vongfong (Ambo) further to a Category 2 typhoon. (20:00 PHT) at The PAGASA also upgrades Vongfong (Ambo) to a typhoon as it approaches Samar. 18:00 UTC at The JTWC reports Vongfong (Ambo) has further intensified to a Category 3 typhoon, peaking with 1-minute sustained winds of and a central pressure of . 21:00 UTC (05:00 PHT, May 14) at The PAGASA also assesses Typhoon Vongfong (Ambo) has peaked with 10-minute sustained winds of and a central pressure of .
May 14 00:00 UTC at The JMA reports Vongfong (Ambo) has peaked with 10-minute sustained winds of and a central pressure of . However, the JTWC determines that the system has begun to weaken and is now a Category 2 typhoon as it is about to make landfall on Samar. 04:15 UTC (12:15 PHT) at Typhoon Vongfong (Ambo) makes its first landfall on San Policarpo, Eastern Samar. 06:00 UTC at The JTWC reports Vongfong (Ambo) has re-intensified to a Category 3 typhoon, re-attaining 1-minute sustained winds of but with a slightly higher central pressure of while traversing the island. 12:00 UTC at The JTWC downgrades Vongfong (Ambo) back to a Category 2 typhoon. 14:15 UTC (22:15 PHT) at After emerging over Dalupiri Pass, Typhoon Vongfong (Ambo) makes its second hit on San Antonio (Dalupiri Island), Northern Samar. 14:30 UTC (22:30 PHT) at Briefly crossing Capul Pass, Vongfong (Ambo) makes its third landfall on Capul (Capul Island), Northern Samar. 16:00 UTC (00:00 PHT, May 15) at After emerging over the northern portion of Samar Sea and traversing Ticao Pass, Vongfong (Ambo) makes its fourth strike on San Jacinto (Ticao Island), Masbate. 18:00 UTC at After emerging over Masbate Pass, the JTWC downgrades Vongfong (Ambo) further to a Category 1 typhoon. 19:00 UTC (03:00 PHT, May 15) at Typhoon Vongfong (Ambo) makes its fifth hit on Claveria (Burias Island), Masbate, after briefly traversing the eastern reaches of Sibuyan Sea.
May 15 00:00 UTC (08:00 PHT) at Typhoon Vongfong (Ambo) makes its sixth and final landfall on San Andres, Quezon. 03:00 UTC (11:00 PHT) at The PAGASA downgrades Vongfong (Ambo) to a severe tropical storm as it traverses the Bondoc Peninsula. 06:00 UTC At The JMA also downgrades Vongfong (Ambo) to a severe tropical storm as it moves northwestward. At The JTWC reports Vongfong (Ambo) has weakened further to a tropical storm. 12:00 UTC At The JMA downgrades Vongfong (Ambo) further to a tropical storm while moving northwestward over Luzon. (20:00 PHT) at The PAGASA follows suit, downgrading Vongfong (Ambo) to a tropical storm. 21:00 UTC (05:00 PHT, May 16) at The PAGASA reports Vongfong (Ambo) has weakened further to a tropical depression as it emerges over the Lingayen Gulf.
May 16 00:00 UTC at The JTWC reports Vongfong (Ambo) has briefly deepened to a central pressure of . 06:00 UTC At The JTWC downgrades Vongfong (Ambo) to a tropical depression as it moves over the South China Sea. (14:00 PHT) at The PAGASA assesses Vongfong (Ambo) has deepened to a central pressure of . 12:00 UTC At The JMA reports Vongfong (Ambo) has deteriorated further to a tropical depression. At The JTWC downgrades Vongfong (Ambo) further to a tropical disturbance as it gradually recurves to the northeast.
May 17 06:00 UTC (14:00 PHT) at The PAGASA analyzes Vongfong (Ambo) has re-attained a central pressure of as it enters the Bashi Channel. 18:00 UTC (02:00 PHT, May 18) at The JMA and PAGASA report Vongfong (Ambo) has deepened to a central pressure of as it gradually accelerates to the northeast.
May 18 00:00 UTC (08:00 PHT) at The PAGASA reports Vongfong (Ambo) has weakened to a remnant low south of the Yaeyama Islands. 06:00 UTC at The JMA last notes Vongfong as it re-attains a central pressure of ; the system dissipated six hours later near Okinawa Island.
June June 10 00:00 UTC at The JMA starts tracking a newly-formed tropical depression near Samar.
June 11 00:00 UTC (08:00 PHT) at After tracking generally northwestward, PAGASA names the tropical depression formerly near Samar, Butchoy, as it moves near Bicol Region. 04:00 UTC (12:00 PHT) at Tropical Depression Butchoy hits the Calaguas Islands. 06:00 UTC (14:00 PHT) at The PAGASA reports Butchoy has deepened to a central pressure of as it makes its closest approach to the Polilo Islands. 14:00 UTC (22:00 PHT) at Tropical Depression Butchoy makes another landfall at San Luis, Aurora. 18:00 UTC at The JTWC starts tracking Butchoy, designating it as 02W, as it traverses Luzon.
June 12 00:00 UTC at After emerging over the South China Sea, the JTWC determines 02W (Butchoy) has deepened to a central pressure of . 12:00 UTC (20:00 PHT) at The JMA and PAGASA upgrade 02W (Butchoy) to a tropical storm, with the former naming it Nuri and the latter assessing it has attained 10-minute winds of and a central pressure of . 17:00 UTC (01:00 PHT, June 13)The PAGASA reports Nuri (Butchoy) has left the PAR. 18:00 UTC at The JTWC assesses Nuri has deepened further to a central pressure of as it approaches southern China.
June 13 00:00 UTC at The JMA assesses Nuri has peaked with 10-minute winds of and a central pressure of . 06:00 UTC at The JTWC upgrades Nuri to a tropical storm, simultaneously attaining its maximum 1-minute winds of . 12:00 UTC at The JTWC analyzes that Nuri has attained its minimum central pressure of as it continues to move northwestward.
June 14 00:00 UTC At The JMA reports Nuri has weakened to a tropical depression as it is about to make landfall in China. At The JTWC also downgrades Nuri to a tropical depression. 00:50 UTC (08:50 CST) at Tropical Depression Nuri makes its last landfall at Hailing Island, Yangjiang City, Guangdong. 06:00 UTC at The JMA stops tracking Nuri as it moves further inland, with the system subsequently dissipating six hours later. 12:00 UTC at The JTWC downgrades Nuri further to a tropical disturbance.
July July 11 06:00 UTC at The JMA marks a tropical depression over the Philippine Sea with a central pressure of .
July 12 06:00 UTC At The JMA assesses the tropical depression over the Philippine Sea re-attains a central pressure of . (14:00 PHT) at The PAGASA starts tracking on the tropical depression over the Philippine Sea, designating it Carina, as it attains 10-minute sustained winds of and a central pressure of .
July 14 06:00 UTC at After going through the Balintang Channel and turning northward, the JMA assesses Carina has re-attained a central pressure of as it now crosses the Bashi Channel. 12:00 UTC (20:00 PHT) at The PAGASA reports Carina has degenerated to a remnant low as it approaches Taiwan. 18:00 UTC at The JMA assesses Ex-Carina has deepened back to a central pressure of as it grazes the southeastern coast of Taiwan.
July 15 00:00 UTC at The JMA last notes Ex-Carina off the eastern coast of Taiwan, with the system becoming indistinguishable six hours later.
July 27 18:00 UTC at The JMA marks a tropical depression east of Minamitorishima with a central pressure of .
July 28 06:00 UTC at The JTWC determines the tropical depression east of Minamitorishima, tagged 90W, as a subtropical depression as it turns to the northwest.
July 29 00:00 UTC at The JMA reports 90W has weakened to a low-pressure area northeast of Minamitorishima. 06:00 UTC at The JTWC assesses 90W has peaked with 1-minute winds of and a central pressure of as it gradually recurves to the northeast.
July 30 00:00 UTC at The JTWC last notes Subtropical Depression 90W as it dissipates well northeast of Minamitorishima. 18:00 UTC at A tropical depression forms over the Philippine Sea, with a central pressure of .
July 31 00:00 UTC At Another tropical depression forms over the South China Sea. (08:00 PHT) at The PAGASA starts tracking on the tropical depression over the Philippine Sea, designating it Dindo, as it moves northwestward.