2002 Pacific Typhoon Season

The 2002 Pacific typhoon season was an active season with many tropical cyclones affecting the Philippines, Japan, and China. Every month had tropical activity, with most storms forming from June through August. Overall, there were 32 tropical depressions, of which 26 became named storms; of those, there were 15 typhoons.

The season began quickly with the first storm's development on January 10, east of the Philippines. In March, Typhoon Mitag became the first super typhoon on record in the month. In June, Typhoon Chataan dropped heavy rainfall in the Federated States of Micronesia, killing 48 people and becoming the deadliest natural disaster in the state of Chuuk. Chataan later left heavy damage in Guam before striking Japan. In August, Typhoon Rusa became the deadliest typhoon in South Korea in 43 years, causing $4.2 billion in damage. Typhoon Higos in October was the third strongest typhoon to strike Tokyo since World War II. The final typhoon of the season was Typhoon Pongsona, which was one of the costliest storms on record in Guam; it left $700 million in damage on the island before dissipating on December 11.

The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean, north of the equator and west of the International Date Line. Storms that form east of the date line and north of the equator are called hurricanes; see 2002 Pacific hurricane season. Tropical Storms formed in the entire west Pacific basin are assigned a name by the Tokyo Typhoon Center. Tropical depressions in this basin have the "W" suffix added to their number. Tropical depressions that enter or form in the Philippine area of responsibility are assigned a name by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration or PAGASA. This can often result in the same storm having two names.