Typhoon Usagi (2024)

Typhoon Usagi, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Ofel, was a powerful tropical cyclone that impacted the Philippines before later affecting Taiwan in mid-November 2024. Usagi (ウサギ; "Rabbit"), which refers to the constellation Lepus in Japanese, was the fifth of six consecutive tropical cyclones that impacted the Philippines within a span of four weeks, following Tropical Storm Trami and Typhoons Kong-rey, Yinxing, and Toraji, and preceding the stronger Typhoon Man-yi. Additionally, Usagi was also part of the four tropical cyclones to simultaneously exist in the Western Pacific during the month of November, the first time since records began in 1951; the other three were Yinxing, Toraji and Man-yi.

The twenty-fifth named storm and the fifth super typhoon of the annual typhoon season, Usagi, developed from an area of convection located 494 km (307 mi) east of Chuuk. As it moved westward along the southern periphery of a mid-level subtropical high, the system exhibited formative convective banding wrapping cyclonically around the northern and western quadrants, signaling intensification. On November 13, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) reported that the system had peaked as a Category 4-equivalent super typhoon on the Saffir–Simpson scale, with 1-minute sustained winds of 240 km/h (150 mph). The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) noted that Usagi reached its maximum strength with 10-minute sustained winds of 175 km/h (110 mph) and a central pressure of 940 hPa (27.76 inHg). Usagi made landfall in Baggao, Cagayan, on November 14. After crossing northern Luzon, Usagi emerged into the Babuyan Channel, passing close to the Babuyan Islands and northern Cagayan. The system weakened significantly due to increasing vertical wind shear just off the coast of southwestern Taiwan. The JMA continued to track it until it dissipated on November 16.

PAGASA issued Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal for various areas, and the DSWD announced it had spent ₱1 billion (US$20.3 million) in response to Usagi. In Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for the southern part of the Taiwan Strait on November 14, followed by a land warning for Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula. Usagi caused US$9.56–73.78 million in damages and left one person missing in the Philippines.