Tropical Storm Vamei

Tropical Storm Vamei

Tropical storm (JMA scale)
Category 1 (Saffir–Simpson scale)
Vamei shortly before landfall
Formed	December 26, 2001
Dissipated	January 1, 2002
Highest winds	10-minute sustained: 85 km/h (50 mph) 1-minute sustained: 120 km/h (75 mph)
Lowest pressure	1006 hPa (mbar); 29.71 inHg
Fatalities	5 direct
Damage	$3.6 million (2001 USD)
Areas affected	Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia
Part of the 2001 Pacific typhoon season 2001 North Indian Ocean cyclone season

Tropical Storm Vamei was a Pacific tropical cyclone that formed closer to the equator than any other tropical cyclone in the Pacific Ocean. The last storm of the 2001 Pacific typhoon season, Vamei developed on December 26 at 1.4° N in the South China Sea. It strengthened quickly and made landfall along extreme southeastern Peninsular Malaysia. Vamei rapidly dissipated over Sumatra on December 28, and the remnants eventually re-organized in the North Indian Ocean.

Though Vamei was officially designated as a tropical storm, its intensity is disputed; some agencies classify it as a typhoon, based on sustained winds of 140 km/h (85 mph) and the appearance of an eye. The storm brought flooding and landslides to eastern Peninsular Malaysia, causing $3.6 million in damage (2001 USD, $4.87 million 2017 USD) and five deaths.

On December 19, a small low-level circulation was located along the northwest coastline of Borneo; at the same time a plume of cold air progressed southward through the South China Sea on the southeastern periphery of a ridge over the Far East. The vortex drifted southwestward, reaching open water by December 21. The northerly air surge was deflected after interacting with the circulation, and at the same time a portion of the air surge crossed the equator. The southerly flow turned eastward, then northward, and in combination with the northerly flow it wrapped into the vortex, resulting in rapid development of the low-level circulation, just a short distance north of the equator. By December 25, an area of scattered convection persisted about 370 km (230 mi) east of Singapore within an area of low wind shear, in association with the low-level circulation. Continuing slowly westward, the convection deepened and organized further, and at 1200 UTC on December 26 the disturbance developed into a tropical depression about 230 km (145 mi) east of Singapore, or 156 km (97 mi) north of the equator. This was the first recorded occurrence of a tropical cyclone near the equator.