Typhoon Halong

Typhoon Halong, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Inday, passed just south of Guam one week after Typhoon Chataan struck the island and left heavy damage. The seventh named storm of the season, Halong developed near the same location as Chataan on July 5 near the Marshall Islands. For much of its duration, the storm moved toward the northwest, gradually intensifying. Early on July 10, Halong passed just south of Guam as a tropical storm, producing high waves and gusty winds on the island. The storm disrupted relief efforts from Chataan, causing additional power outages but little damage. After affecting Guam, Halong quickly strengthened and reached its peak winds on July 12. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center estimated peak 1-minute winds of , while the Japan Meteorological Agency estimated 10‑minute winds of . Subsequently, the typhoon weakened greatly while curving to the northeast, although it still passed near Okinawa with strong winds that left widespread power outages. Halong struck southeastern Japan, dropping heavy rainfall and producing strong winds that left $89.8 million (¥10.3 billion 2002 JPY) in damage. There was one death in the country and nine injuries. Halong became extratropical on July 16 and dissipated the next day. The typhoon influenced the monsoon trough in the Philippines, contributing to flooding and deaths in the country. Meteorological history In early July, a circulation with an area of convection developed along the monsoon trough near Enewetak Atoll. The system remained nearly stationary, tracking slowly to the southwest. Gradually organizing, the system developed into a tropical depression on July 6 over the Marshall Islands. Without having issued a tropical cyclone formation alert, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) initiated advisories on Tropical Depression 10W at 0000 UTC on July 7. Late that day, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) upgraded the depression to Tropical Storm Halong near the island of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia. By that time, the storm was moving west-northwestward, steered by a ridge to the north. Halong slowly intensified, although it continued to develop deep convection that wrapped into the center. Early on July 9, the JMA upgraded the storm to a severe tropical storm. At 1200 UTC that day, the JTWC upgraded Halong to typhoon status about east-southeast of Guam.