Seoul, South Korea: storm history

27 storms have passed within 50 km of Seoul from 1934 to 2023. The map shows South Korea; search for a town in Seoul to see storms near it.

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Years1842 to 2026
Ocean basin

Choosing a minimum category hides storms with no wind speed in the record. To see which storms have passed near you, search a town or ZIP code, or tap the map.

Key
  • Tropical depression Winds below 34 knots (39 mph)
  • Tropical storm 34 to 63 knots (39 to 73 mph)
  • Category 1 64 to 82 knots (74 to 95 mph)
  • Category 2 83 to 95 knots (96 to 110 mph)
  • Category 3 96 to 112 knots (111 to 129 mph), major
  • Category 4 113 to 136 knots (130 to 156 mph), major
  • Category 5 137 knots (157 mph) or more, major
  • Unknown intensity No wind speed in the record
  • Post-tropical Storm has become post-tropical (dashed line)

How to read the lines. Each line is the track of one storm, drawn through its six-hourly positions and coloured by its intensity at each point (the Saffir-Simpson scale), so a line changes colour as the storm strengthens or weakens. Tap a line for its details, or tap anywhere else to see which storms have passed nearby. Weaker storms appear as you zoom in. Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are the same kind of storm with different names in different oceans.

Storms near Seoul

The record holds 27 tropical cyclones whose tracks passed within 50 km of Seoul, South Korea between 1934 and 2023. The busiest month is August, with 16 of them. The strongest, measured where each came closest to the place, reached category 1 strength. 7 of the storms have no wind speed in the record.

  • 27storms within 50 km
  • 0major (category 3 to 5) near here
  • 2at category 1 strength or more

A storm counts once, however many times it came close. The category is the storm's strongest point within 50 km, which can be weaker than its peak elsewhere.

How strong were the storms near Seoul?

Category near hereStormsShare
Tropical depression311%
Tropical storm1556%
Category 127%
Category 200%
Category 300%
Category 400%
Category 500%
Unknown intensity726%

The agency behind most of the intensity figures here is the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center (western Pacific).

Seoul storms over time

Storms by decade
Bar chart of storms by period. The most is 4 in 1940s.1930s21940s41950s41960s41970s31980s21990s42010s32020s1

The 2020s only run to 2023, so that bar is for a shorter period. This place's record starts in 1934, and records before the satellite era (about the 1960s) are far less complete.

Show the numbers
PeriodCount
1930s2
1940s4
1950s4
1960s4
1970s3
1980s2
1990s4
2010s3
2020s1

Earlier decades hold fewer storms partly because they were harder to see. Before weather satellites (about the 1960s) many storms that stayed at sea went unrecorded, so compare decades with care.

Storms by month
Bar chart of storms by period. The most is 16 in Aug.Jan0Feb0Mar0Apr0May0Jun0Jul5Aug16Sep6Oct0Nov0Dec0
Show the numbers
PeriodCount
Jan0
Feb0
Mar0
Apr0
May0
Jun0
Jul5
Aug16
Sep6
Oct0
Nov0
Dec0

Strongest storms near Seoul

  • Kompasu (2010)27 August 2010 to 6 September 2010, Category 1 (80 kt) near here, peak Category 3 (105 kt), 960 hPa
  • Olga (1999)26 July 1999 to 5 August 1999, peak Category 1 (80 kt), 970 hPa
  • Vera (1986)13 August 1986 to 2 September 1986, Tropical storm (60 kt) near here, peak Category 3 (110 kt), 925 hPa
  • Karen (1952)10 August 1952 to 28 August 1952, Tropical storm (55 kt) near here, peak Category 2 (85 kt), 955 hPa
  • Pearl (1948)1 July 1948 to 8 July 1948, Tropical storm (50 kt) near here, peak Category 2 (90 kt)

Most recent storms near Seoul

  • Khanun (2023)26 July 2023 to 11 August 2023, Tropical depression (25 kt) near here, peak Category 4 (125 kt), 930 hPa
  • Unnamed storm of September 2019 (Western North Pacific)7 September 2019 to 10 September 2019, peak Unknown intensity
  • Khanun (2012)13 July 2012 to 20 July 2012, peak Tropical storm (55 kt), 985 hPa

Many of these storms killed people and destroyed homes. The figures are the official record's, and this page says nothing about their human cost.

More in South Korea

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