2015 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Soudelor 2015
Soudelor damaged Saipan before reaching its greatest strength over the Philippine Sea. It later crossed Taiwan and eastern China, bringing destructive winds, flooding and landslides.
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178 mph
Aug 3, 2015 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
Saipan before the strongest phase
Soudelor developed in late July and initially strengthened slowly. Rapid intensification began on August 2, when the typhoon struck Saipan. Hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed, and the disruption to electricity was expected to last for weeks.
The cyclone continued strengthening after Saipan, reaching archived sustained winds of 155 knots on August 3. It then weakened while moving generally west-northwest toward Taiwan. Within the Philippine monitoring area it was known as Hanna.
Widespread outages and inland flooding
Soudelor reached Hualien in eastern Taiwan late on August 7 UTC, crossed the island and emerged into the Taiwan Strait. Torrential rain and destructive winds caused widespread disruption, with 4.85 million households losing power. The storm then moved inland over eastern China and weakened to a depression by August 9.
Heavy rain in eastern China triggered deadly floods and landslides. Economic losses there were estimated at 24.627 billion yuan, approximately US$3.97 billion in 2015 dollars. The archived circulation persisted into August 12.
IMPACT
Reported impact
| Deaths | 59 |
|---|
Facts from Wikidata.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Soudelor in brief
What was Typhoon Soudelor's highest wind speed?
178 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Aug 3, 2015, 06:00 PM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Soudelor?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Aug 3, 2015, 12:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Soudelor's lowest pressure?
907 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Aug 3, 2015, 06:00 PM UTC.
When did Typhoon Soudelor occur?
The archived track runs from Jul 29, 2015, 06:00 PM UTC to Aug 12, 2015, 06:00 AM UTC, with the tropical stage from Jul 29, 2015, 06:00 PM UTC to Aug 12, 2015, 06:00 AM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Soudelor form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 2015 season. Its first archived position is 13.3°N, 162.2°E on Jul 29, 2015, 06:00 PM UTC.
Did Typhoon Soudelor make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 2 recorded positions; the strongest is 109 mph on Aug 8, 2015, 12:00 AM UTC. Positions are six-hourly, so this is not a landfall chronology.
How many people died in Typhoon Soudelor?
59 deaths are recorded by Wikidata.
METHODOLOGY
Data sources and limitations
The map and summary are generated from NOAA's IBTrACS v04r01 archive. Wind and category use US-agency records; minimum pressure is calculated during the tropical stage, with the archive's pressure source retained. Category 5 refers to the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale; local agencies may use different classifications. Coastlines use Natural Earth's 1:10m land data.
Track distance adds great-circle distances between consecutive observations, excluding gaps over 12 hours. This track has no gaps over 12 hours. The line shows the storm's center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Converted wind speeds are rounded to the nearest whole unit.
Archive retrieved
NOAA IBTrACS archive and Field documentation
Sources & methodology