The 1962 Pacific typhoon season had no official bounds; there was activity in every month but January, March, and June, but most tropical cyclones form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between May and November and this conventionally delimits the season.
The majority of the Pacific typhoons in 1962 formed in the Pacific Ocean north of the equator and west of the International Date Line with two exceptions: Tropical Depressions Fifty and Sixty-three formed in the Central Pacific. All tropical depressions are assigned a number. Most systems reaching tropical storm strength were assigned a name; all typhoons were named.
Seasonal summary Timeline of tropical activity in the 1962 Pacific typhoon season
Ninety tropical waves formed in the 1962 season. Only 78 of these became major easterly waves. 38 of these waves became tropical depressions, 30 became storms and 23 become typhoons. This record of 24 typhoons beat 1952 record which had 21. This record was beaten in the 1964 season with 26 typhoons. Six super typhoons formed in 1962 which were Georgia, Emma, Ruth, Opal, Amy and Karen. Even with the high activity, only about half the cyclones in 1962 made landfall. There were also seventeen suspect cyclones discovered by the JTWC in post-season reports. Three were reported to reach typhoon intensity, three at tropical storm status and two needed tropical depression warnings.
Two depressions, 50 and 63, formed in the Central Pacific under the Joint Hurricane Warning Center's (now The Central Pacific Hurricane Center) jurisdiction and were included in the JTWC archives. Both depressions stayed out to sea and had no effects on land. The Central Pacific also got Nora, Opal, Ruth, Gilda, Emma and Thelma, the remnants of Nadine and the ending of Karen near the end of the season. Six typhoons entered the Bering Sea: Nora, Opal, Ruth, Thelma, Amy and Emma. Four of the six were super typhoons. Three typhoons just missed entering the Bering Sea: Typhoons Hope, Sarah and Gilda. Also, Typhoons Georgia, Hope, Joan, Nora, Opal, Ruth, Thelma, Wanda, Amy, Emma, Gilda, Jean and Karen all lasted for at least one week with Opal lasting for eighteen straight days from a wave to the day the JMA ceased advisories.
Systems
Tropical Storm Fran
The second tropical wave of the season formed on the morning of February 2 off the southeastern coast of the Philippines. The storm quickly intensified into a tropical depression and soon into the first tropical storm of the 1962 season. The intensifying tropical cyclone went through the latter half of February 2 as a tropical storm, progressing southwest towards Indonesia. However, on the early morning of February 3, the storm curved to the northeast and away from Indonesia. The strength remained unchanged during the day and before long reached its peak winds speeds of . Continuing northward away from the coast of the Philippines, Fran remained at peak winds until the evening of February 4. During the morning hours of February 5, Fran dropped down to tropical storm and continued northward, weakening to . On the morning of February 6, Fran weakened into a tropical depression and the final advisory was released six hours after.
Typhoon Georgia
A surge from an outdraft in the Southern Hemisphere entered the western Pacific on the afternoon of April 13. This surge began to come together near the island of Woleai and progressed northwestward through the Pacific. After crossing over Woleai, the system neared the island of Yap and began forming into the second tropical depression of the 1962 season. On the afternoon of April 16, the system was declared a tropical depression. The depression made a curve to the south during the north and early on April 17 reconnaissance aircraft found surface winds of . The storm was upgraded to a tropical storm on April 17 as the system continued curving, turning to the east. An eye began to form during the afternoon, it got to be wide. The developing cyclone was declared a typhoon on the afternoon with winds of . By the morning of April 18, Georgia had curved again, now to the north, gaining strength and developing an elliptical eye. Through the afternoon of April 18, Georgia continued to strengthen, reaching Category 2 status during the morning. Rapid strengthening and development continued through the afternoon, with minimum pressures of 952 millibars on the surface reported.
Entering the morning of April 19, Georgia began forming a well-defined eye, having already strengthened into a Category 3 cyclone. Intensification continued throughout the day with sustained winds reaching by the end of the day. The next morning, Typhoon Georgia reached its peak sustained winds of just west of the island of Guam. The lowest minimum pressure recorded at that point was 930 millibars. The typhoon retained its strength for most of April 20, but in the late afternoon, the system began to weaken as it entered colder waters. Georgia curved to the northeast and slowly weakened during April 21, by the end of the day, the eye was beginning to come apart. During the morning of April 22, surface winds were reported at only and sustained winds soon followed. The cold waters continued to take its toll on the system, becoming a minimal Category 1 typhoon by the evening with no well-defined eye. On the morning of April 23, Georgia weakened into a tropical storm and slowly weakened during the day as it began a transition into an extratropical cyclone. On the morning of April 24, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center ceased following the storm as it had become extratropical with winds of .
The extratropical remnants of Georgia continued northward east of the coast of Japan. On April 26, the extratropical remnants passed to the southeast of the Kamchatka Peninsula. During the day, the system curved once again, turning westward before another curve to the south. During the day on April 27, the system returned to its northeastern pattern before dissipating on April 29, southeast of the peninsula.
In its wake, the predecessor system to Typhoon Georgia left in rainfall over Yap Island, where no damage was recorded. Reported damages caused by Typhoon Georgia were limited. The only report was a ship and its cargo in the Pacific suffered $28,000 in damages (1962 USD).
Tropical Storm Hope
A surge from the easterlies came in contact with a polar trough on May 13, creating an easterly wave which began developing in the afternoon near the island of Koror. The wave progressed northwestward away from the island and continued developing over the next few days. On May 16, the wave was upgraded to a tropical storm, the third of the season off the coast of the Philippines with winds of . The storm, named Hope, continued northwestward, peaking first at before striking several islands over the Philippines. While over land, Tropical Storm Hope weakened to a minimal tropical storm on May 17 and into a tropical depression with no circulation later that day. The storm remained a tropical depression over the day, crossing the eastern island of the Philippines. Tropical Depression Hope left the island and began to strengthen back into a minimal tropical storm by May 18. However, the storm interacted with land once more and weakened back into a tropical depression on May 18.
After leaving the Philippines for the final time, the depression began to develop, becoming a tropical storm for the third time since May 16 and developing a small eye. As Tropical Storm Hope turned further northeast, the eye expanded and the storm was soon declared a typhoon by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center late evening on May 19. The next day, Hope continued to strengthen and develop, and while just south of Okinawa on May 20, peaked at sustained winds. (Operationally, Typhoon Hope was declared a , Category 2 typhoon, but this was demoted in post-analysis.) An internal pressure of 980 millibars was recorded within a wide eye. Hope began to encounter cold air near Okinawa, Japan, weakening rapidly from a typhoon to a tropical storm on May 21. Hope's eye fell apart and started to begin transition to its extratropical stage. On the morning of May 22, Hope's sustained winds fell below tropical storm stage and the system became a tropical depression. By the afternoon, Hope was declared extratropical and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center ceased following the system.
The extratropical remnants of Typhoon Hope continued northeastward towards the coast of Japan on May 23. The system turned just offshore and paralleled the eastern coast for several days. After May 24, the system begins to leave the Japanese coast in favor of the open Pacific Ocean but made a dart to the north towards the Kuril Islands on May 26. The remains turned once again to the northeast, paralleling the Kamchatka Peninsula for the next day. The storm turned offshore again on May 27 and disappeared near the Aleutian Islands on May 28.
Tropical Depression Twenty-One
The 21st tropical wave of the 1962 season formed on May 21 in the open South China Sea, east of the Philippines. The systems strengthened into a tropical depression moved to the southeast toward southwestern South Vietnam. However, the depression returned to its northern progression on May 22 and dissipated on the same day without threatening land.
Typhoon Iris
A tropical wave, the 22nd of the 1962 season, forming on May 26 met a polar trough northeast of the island of Koror. This fracture caused the wave to begin developing during the early morning hours. The system rapidly intensified and became the fourth tropical depression of the season on the same afternoon. Within six hours, the depression became Tropical Storm Iris on May 26 just east of the Philippines. The eye of Iris began to define itself, as operationally winds reached on May 27, which would classify the system a typhoon. However, in post-analysis, Iris was never able to strengthen into a typhoon, peaking at winds of off the Philippine coast. A minimum central pressure was read of 990 millibars within the storm. Iris paralleled the shore for several hours, beginning a rapid weakening process, falling to a minimal tropical storm with winds of only by the end of the day.
During the morning of May 28, Iris began to suffer from its lack of upper-level divergence and as a result was demoted into a tropical depression. The weakening system persisted two more days off the coast and dissipated on the morning of May 30. The dissipating remains of the Iris persisted for another day off the Philippines, dissipating southeast of Taiwan on May 31.
Reported impact from Iris in the Philippines were five deaths reported and no estimated damage to crops on the islands.
Typhoon Joan
Another easterly wave formed off to the northeast of the Philippines on the afternoon of July 6 after reaching a polar trough. The system quickly organized itself, strengthening into a tropical storm on the morning of July 7. Named Joan, the storm curved to the northwest through the Pacific, rapidly intensfying into a typhoon by the next day. The storm reached a peak sustained windspeed of just to the southeast of the island of Okinawa. The minimum pressure for the storm was registered at . After passing Okinawa on July 9, the forward speed in Typhoon Joan increased and the storm began to weaken. The storm boasted an unorganized, elliptical eye as it soon fell to a minimal hurricane that afternoon. On the evening of July 9, the now-Tropical Storm Joan passed due east of Shanghai, China before turning to the northeast on the morning of July 10. With only sustained winds of , the system struck the shore of South Korea on the afternoon of July 10. The storm continued weakening as it crossed the 38th parallel and entered North Korea, falling to a minimal tropical storm over land. After emerging from North Korea, the storm raced to the northeast before experiencing cold air and become extratropical on the morning of July 11.