Typhoon Maysak

Typhoon Maysak, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Julian, was a deadly, damaging and powerful tropical cyclone that struck the Ryukyu Islands and the Korean Peninsula in September 2020. The third typhoon of the 2020 Pacific typhoon season, Maysak formed from a tropical disturbance. The disturbance gradually organized, receiving the name Julian from PAGASA as it became a tropical depression. As the depression strengthened, the JMA subsequently named the system Maysak. Maysak rapidly intensified into a strong typhoon before weakening and making landfall in South Korea. Maysak was the second of three typhoons to affect the Korean Peninsula within two weeks, the others being Bavi and Haishen. It was also responsible for the loss of a livestock carrier Gulf Livestock 1, that sank 100 nautical miles West off from Amami Ōshima, Japan on September 2, 2020, taking 41 out of the 43 crew members on board. Meteorological history Following the impacts of Typhoon Bavi on the Korean peninsula in August 2020, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) began to anticipate the development of a new tropical cyclone with the potential to be stronger and more damaging for the region than Bavi. The KMA assessed a high probability of the storm's development, but noted that its future impacts were uncertain; the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) also determined that there was a high likelihood of a "significant tropical cyclone" developing. Maysak's precursor disturbance was an area of low pressure over the western Pacific east of the Philippines. At 06:00 UTC on August 27, the Japan Meteorological Agency determined that a nearly stationary tropical depression had formed near 15°N, 132°E. The JTWC issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert for the system around the same time. The newly formed system was located in an environment conducive to storm development, including warm sea surface temperatures and low vertical wind shear. Clusters of atmospheric convection emerged around the storm's center, comprising formative rainbands wrapping into the developing circulation. Early on August 28, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) assessed the system as a tropical depression with the local name Julian. At 06:00 UTC, the JMA assessed the tropical depression to have strengthened into a tropical storm, assigning it with the name Maysak.