Tropical Storm Noul, also known in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

as Tropical Storm Leon, was a weak, but deadly tropical cyclone that impacted central

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, which had been affected by Tropical Storm Sinlaku more than one month earlier. Noul originated from a tropical system in the

Philippine Sea The Philippine Sea is a List of seas#Marginal seas by ocean, marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, Western Pacific Ocean east of the list of islands of the Philippines, Philippine Archipelago (hence the name) and the List of seas#Largest seas ...

in September 15. The system was upgraded into a tropical depression later that same day by JMA, with JTWC and PAGASA following suit in 15:00 UTC, with PAGASA assigning the local name ''Leon'' to the developing tropical cyclone. As Leon was leaving the area of responsibility, Leon intensified into a tropical storm and was assigned the international name ''Noul'' by JMA. Noul would make landfall between

Quảng Trị Quảng Trị () is a district-level town in Quảng Trị Province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. It is second of two municipalities in the province after the provincial capital Đông Hà. History The Sino-Vietnamese name Qu ...

and Thừa Thiên-Huế provinces in September 18 before degenerating into a remnant low over

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

later that day. Noul caused six deaths and losses of US$175.2 million in Vietnam. In Cambodia, Noul killed 12 people, in which 8 of them are killed by lightning strike on

Battambang Province Battambang (, , ) is a province of Cambodia in the far northwest of the country. Bordering provinces are Banteay Meanchey to the north, Pursat to the east and south, Siem Reap to the northeast, and Pailin to the west. The northern and south ...

, 3 of them drowned in Preah Sihanouk and Koh Kong provinces, and a person from

Pailin Province Pailin (, ) is a province in western Cambodia at the northern edge of the Cardamom Mountains near the border of Thailand. This province is surrounded by Battambang province, and was officially carved out of Battambang to become a separate adm ...

is missing and presumed dead.

Meteorological history

On September 14 at 12:00 UTC, the

Japan Meteorological Agency The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA; ''気象庁, Kishō-chō'') is a division of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism dedicated to the Scientific, scientific observation and research of natural phenomena. Headquartered ...

(JMA) began issuing warnings on a tropical depression as it was moving west-northwest. The system continued organizing, and on September 15 at 02:00

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

, the

Joint Typhoon Warning Center The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The JTWC is responsible for the issuing of tropical cyclone warnings in the North-West Pacific Ocean, South P ...

(JTWC) issued a

Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert A Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) is a bulletin released by the U.S. Navy-operated Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Honolulu, Hawaii or the Fleet Weather Center in Norfolk, Virginia, warning of the possibility of a tropical cyclone formi ...

on the system as it was located over the

. The system was in a favorable environment, though strengthening was limited due to the disorganized structure. Convection, albeit disorganized, began covering the low-level circulation, and at 15:00 UTC, the JTWC upgraded the system to a tropical depression, giving it the unofficial designation of ''13W'' as it was located approximately southwest of

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

Sea surface temperature Sea surface temperature (or ocean surface temperature) is the ocean temperature, temperature of ocean water close to the surface. The exact meaning of ''surface'' varies in the literature and in practice. It is usually between and below the sea ...

s in the area ranged from . At the same time, the

PAGASA The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (, abbreviated as PAGASA , which means "hope" as in the Tagalog language, Tagalog word ''pag-asa'') is the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS ...

began issuing severe weather bulletins on the depression, giving it the local name ''Leon''. 3 hours later at 18:00 UTC, the JMA upgraded the depression to a tropical storm, assigning it the name ''Noul''. At 21:00 on September 16, the storm left the PAR and PAGASA issued its final warning on the system. At 03:00 UTC September 18, Noul made landfall between

and Thừa Thiên-Huế provinces. At 9:00 UTC, the JTWC issued its final warning on the system. After being downgraded to a

low pressure area In meteorology, a low-pressure area (LPA), low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. It is the opposite of a high-pressure area. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclem ...

(LPA), Noul followed a westward path and emerged in the Indian Ocean.

Preparation and impacts

A few days before the storm hit Vietnam, the Vietnamese government closed three airports and evacuated more than one million people in the affected areas. Noul damaged homes and knocked down trees and power lines in Hue, Vietnam. Heavy precipitation amounts peaking at 310 mm (12.20 inches) fell in

Da Nang Da Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons (, ) is the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the Western Pacific Ocean of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is one of Vietnam's most important p ...

. The storm caused 6 deaths and 705 billion đồng (US$30.4 million) in damage.

References

External links

Japan Meteorological Agency's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noul (2020) Western Pacific tropical storms Typhoons in Vietnam Tropical cyclones in 2020 2020 Pacific typhoon season