Typhoon Megi (2010)

Typhoon Megi (pronounced [me̞.ɟi]), known in the Philippines as Typhoon Juan, was the strongest tropical cyclone of 2010 and is considered one of the most intense ever recorded. Megi, which means catfish in Korean (Hangul: 메기), was the fifteenth named storm, sixth typhoon and only super typhoon of the 2010 Pacific typhoon season. It originated out of a disturbance on October 12 southeast of Guam and slowly consolidated, with the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) and Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) designating it a tropical storm by the following day, giving it the name Megi. Steady intensification continued throughout the next few days, with Megi becoming a typhoon on October 14. Rapid intensification ensued under very favourable conditions, and Megi eventually became a super typhoon on October 17; peaking with a minimum central pressure of 885 millibars (26.1 inHg), one of the lowest on record. Early on October 18, Megi made its first landfall over Luzon at peak intensity. Land interaction caused Megi to weaken but gradually regained strength to a secondary peak in the South China Sea, before unfavourable conditions caused it to gradually deteriorate afterwards as it slowly moved north. Megi weakened to a tropical storm before making landfall over Zhangpu in Fujian, China on October 23; dissipating entirely the next day over China.

Megi killed 31 people and caused $255.1 million (2010 USD) in damage over Luzon, making it top twenty of the costliest typhoons in the Philippines. After moving to the South China Sea, the outflow of Megi and a weather front together brought torrential rainfall, caused $42.2 million (2010 USD) in damage and killed 38 people in Yilan, Taiwan, making Megi the deadliest typhoon of 2010s in Taiwan. Megi also caused US$411.7 million in damage over Fujian, China, although there were no deaths by the storm in the province. Total losses from Megi were estimated at US$709 million, and a total of 69 people killed as a result of the typhoon. Despite the intensity and destruction, the name Megi was not retired, and was used again in 2016 until its retirement in 2022, although the name Juan was retired by PAGASA.