Typhoon Maysak (2015)

Typhoon Maysak (Chedeng)

Typhoon (JMA scale)
Category 5 (Saffir–Simpson scale)
Typhoon Maysak at peak intensity, as seen from the International Space Station on March 31
Formed	March 26, 2015
Dissipated	April 7, 2015
Highest winds	10-minute sustained: 195 km/h (120 mph) 1-minute sustained: 280 km/h (175 mph)
Lowest pressure	910 hPa (mbar); 26.87 inHg
Fatalities	4 direct
Damage	$8.5 million (2015 USD)
Areas affected	Federated States of Micronesia, Philippines
Part of the 2015 Pacific typhoon season

Typhoon Maysak, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Chedeng, was the most powerful pre-April tropical cyclone on record in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. The fourth named storm of the 2015 Pacific typhoon season, Maysak originated as a tropical depression on March 26. The next day, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) upgraded the depression to a tropical storm and assigned it the name Maysak. According to the JMA, Maysak became the second typhoon of the year on March 28. The typhoon explosively intensified into a Category 5 super typhoon on March 31, passing near the islands of Chuuk and Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia. After maintaining that intensity for 18 hours, Maysak weakened, made landfall over the Philippine island of Luzon as a minimal tropical storm, and dissipated shortly afterwards.

Maysak affected Yap and Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia, as well as the Philippines. The storm was responsible for four deaths in the Federated States of Micronesia alongside 10 injuries. Damage was estimated at $8.5 million (2015 USD). Estimates from the Red Cross suggested that there were 5,000 people in desperate need of food, water and shelter, and needed emergency assistance. Pacific Mission Aviation administrator Melinda Espinosa said "Most concrete structures withstood the fury but everything else was damaged." Later, the storm struck the Philippines, causing minimal damage.

An area of convection persisted on March 24 to the east-southeast of the Marshall Islands. Initially it consisted of a broad but consolidating circulation, with outflow to the north offsetting moderate wind shear to aid in development. It gradually became better organized, with a curved area of convection wrapping into the center. On March 26, the JMA classified the system as a tropical depression just east of Pohnpei. On March 27, the JTWC started tracking the system as a Tropical Depression 04W. Moving west-northwestward, the system's center became more consolidated with convective banding becoming wrapped into it. The JTWC upgraded 04W to a tropical storm the same day, and the JMA upgraded the depression to Tropical Storm Maysak.