2010 Western North Pacific Typhoon Season: Seasonal Overview and Forecast Using a Track-Pattern-Based Model

Fourteen named tropical cyclones (TCs) formed in the western North Pacific (WNP) in 2010, representing the lowest count since 1951. Both low activity during the typhoon season (June-October) and quiescence during the pre- and posttyphoon seasons were major contributing factors. Despite overall low activity, TC activity along land boundaries was enhanced because the overall genesis locations of TCs shifted to the north and west and a majority of them affected the coastal countries in the WNP. These features are attributed to the expansion of the subtropical high and weakening of the monsoon trough associated with the rapid transition of the 2009/10 El Nino to the 2010/11 La Nina. The National Typhoon Center (NTC) in South Korea utilizes the recently developed track-pattern-based model of the hybrid statistical- dynamical type as the operational long-range TC forecast system. This model fairly forecast the anomalous spatial distribution of TC track density for the 2010 typhoon season. A higher-than-normal track density was successfully forecast near Korea and Japan. This is attributed to the overall skillful forecast of TC count for each pattern by the NTC model, though some deficiencies in forecasting extremes for some patterns are evident. The total seasonal genesis frequency integrated over the seven patterns is well below normal (about 16.4) close to the observations. The fair predictability in 2010 using the NTC model is attributed to the skillful forecast of the ENSO transition by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction's Climate Forecast System, in addition to the validity of the NTC model itself.