Tropical Storm Pakhar was a strong tropical storm that affected 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 ...

and the

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

as a whole in early-April 2012. The fourth tropical depression and the first named storm of the annual typhoon season, Pakhar's origins can be traced from a disturbance that persisted to the northwest of

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. Located in an overall unfavorable environment, the disturbance crossed the

Philippine 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 ...

archipelago before subsequently developed into a tropical depression on March 26. Now under favorable conditions, the depression intensified to a tropical storm, receiving the name ''Pakhar'' from the JMA. On the other hand, the JTWC upgraded it to a Category 1 typhoon due to an eye feature; however, this was short-lived as the agency downgraded back Pakhar to a tropical storm due to the system entering colder

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. On April 2, the system made landfall near

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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 ...

and it dissipated thereafter. Its remnants also affected

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

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and

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. 15 fatalities are confirmed from Pakhar: 5 in the Philippines and the other 10 are from Vietnam. The damages from the storm are estimated at $53.9 million (2012

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Meteorological history

On March 17, a tropical disturbance formed to the northwest of

. Located in an unfavorable environment, with moderate vertical wind shear and cold sea surface temperatures, the disturbance didn't develop significantly and it passed on

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; Filipino language, Filipino: ''Kabisayaan'' ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, a ...

and

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

between March 22 and 23. By the next day, the JMA upgraded the disturbance to a tropical depression over the

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; however, this was short-lived as the agency downgraded the depression back to a disturbance the next day due to the system's deteriorating structure. On March 26, the JMA reupgraded the system to a tropical depression due to its good structure and redeveloping convection around its low-level circulation. On March 28, the JTWC issued a TCFA on the tropical depression, as its LLCC began to consolidate more. Early the next day, the JMA upgraded the system to a tropical storm, receiving the name ''Pakhar''. As a banding eye emerged, the JTWC upgraded Pakhar to a Category 1 typhoon early on March 30. However, the system was downgraded to a severe tropical storm on March 31 due to land interaction and cooler

. It made landfall in southern

, near

on April 1, and was subject to weakening. The JMA and JTWC reported that Pakhar weakened to a tropical depression for the final time inland, and was last noted over

on that day.

Impact

Philippines

Pakhar did not make landfall in the Philippines as a tropical cyclone, but its predecessor brought heavy rains to parts of the region. Various parts of central and southern

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

, as well as the northern

region, were flooded. Due to flash flooding in Basud, Camarines Norte, 128 families were forced to leave their homes. The rains triggered a few landslides, which damaged or destroyed a few houses. Five people were killed and three others were reported missing across the affected area.

Indochina

Due to flash floods and high winds in Vietnam, ten people were killed and several others were wounded. The storm made landfall in Khánh Ha Province, which was the hardest hit. The storm destroyed about 4,400 homes in the district, and thousands of acres of rice paddy were flooded. Officials in Ho Chi Minh City announced that 600 homes and schools had been destroyed. Total damage were finalized at ₫1.12 trillion (US$53.9 million). Sections of Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand received rain from the system's remnants.

References

External links