Tropical Cyclone Activities in the Western North Pacific in 2024

Using the best-track dataset from the Shanghai Typhoon Institute/China Meteorological Administration, this paper reports on the tropical cyclone (TC) activities in the Western North Pacific (WNP) and the South China Sea (SCS) during 2024. Key features, including anomalies in TC frequency, origin locations, tracks, intensity, duration, and landfalls across the Asia-Pacific region, are examined relative to the 1951–2020 climatology. After four consecutive years of below-average activity, the 2024 TC frequency returns to near-normal levels, though with a notable temporal asymmetry—reduced TCs in the early months and enhanced activity during autumn. TC origin locations, marking the starting points of their paths, shift northwestward. Track density is anomalously high in offshore areas of southeastern China, the northern Philippines, and the waters east of Japan. While mean intensity is slightly below average, a bimodal distribution is observed. The average duration of named TCs is comparable to climatology, but with a wider range. Eight TCs made landfall in China, totaling nine events. In the Asia-Pacific, the Philippines experienced not only the highest number of TC landfalls, but also some of the most intense events. The pronounced seasonal asymmetry in TC activity during 2024 is mainly driven by ENSO-related conditions. While a decaying El Niño suppressed TC activity during the first half of the year, favorable conditions emerge in August and then intensified into the autumn with the onset of a La Niña event.