page_title: Typhoon Fengshen (2002)
section_title: Meteorological history
hierarchical_section_title: Typhoon Fengshen (2002) / Meteorological history
caption_attribution_description: This unusual true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image captured on July 25, 2002, shows two Typhoon systems approaching the Far East. The largest storm, draped over southern Japan (top center) is Fengshen. The smaller storm to the south is Fung Wong.
context_page_description: Typhoon Fengshen was the strongest storm of the 2002 Pacific typhoon season. It developed on July 13 from the monsoon trough near the Marshall Islands, and quickly intensified due to its small size. By July 15, Fengshen attained typhoon status, and after initially moving to the north, it turned toward the northwest. On July 18, the typhoon reached its peak intensity of 185 km/h, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center estimated peak winds of 270 km/h, and the agency estimated that Fengshen was a super typhoon for five days. This broke the record for longest duration at that intensity, previously set by Typhoon Joan in 1997, and which was later tied by Typhoon Ioke in 2006.
  While near peak intensity, Typhoon Fengshen underwent the Fujiwhara effect with Typhoon Fung-wong, causing the latter storm to loop to its south. Fengshen gradually weakened while approaching Japan, and it crossed over the country's Ōsumi Islands on July 25 as a severe tropical storm. The typhoon washed a freighter ashore, killing four people and forcing the other 15 crew members to be rescued.
context_section_description: Late on July 13, a tropical depression developed near the Marshall Islands northeast of Kwajalein Atoll. The cyclone quickly strengthened into Tropical Storm Fengshen just six hours after forming. On July 14, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) initiated warnings on Fengshen just two hours after first monitoring the disturbance. By that time, the system consisted of a distinct circulation with developing convection, located in an area of weak wind shear. The storm initially moved northwestward, emerging from the monsoon trough as a small cyclone. Quick intensification followed, and an upper-level low to the northwest assisted in providing outflow. After a 13 km (8 mi) wide eye developed, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) upgraded Fengshen to a typhoon on July 15 to the southwest of Wake Island; the JTWC also upgraded the storm the same day.
  On July 16, Fengshen turned sharply westward due to a subtropical ridge to its northwest, and it maintained that movement for the next four days. By late on July 18, the JMA estimated that Fengshen attained maximum sustained winds of 185 km/h (115 mph 10‑minute), around the same time the JTWC upgraded the storm to a super typhoon. After maintaining its peak intensity for 24 hours, Fengshen weakened slightly and began a turn to the northwest. The weakening was possibly due to an eyewall replacement cycle, and although previously it was a small storm, the typhoon gradually increased in size. Around that time of its weakening, Fengshen began undergoing the Fujiwhara effect with Typhoon Fung-wong; the latter looped to the south of Fengshen and dissipated on July 29. On July 21, Fengshen began re-intensifying, and the JMA reported that the typhoon again reached winds of 185 km/h (115 mph 10‑minute). At around the same time, the JTWC estimated winds of 270 km/h (165 mph 1‑minute). Fengshen retained much of its intensity until July 22, being a super typhoon for five days. This set the record for greatest duration at the intensity, surpassing the previous record of 114 hours set by Typhoon Joan in 1997; Fengshen's record was later tied by Typhoon Ioke in 2006.
  After several days as a powerful typhoon, Fengshen began a weakening trend due to decreased outflow and dry air. It weakened below super typhoon status after being at that intensity for five days. On July 24, Fengshen turned more to the west while passing to the south of mainland Japan, and the next day it weakened below typhoon intensity. At 1145 UTC on July 25, Fengshen made landfall on Yakushima in Japan's Ōsumi Islands, while a severe tropical storm. The next day, the storm passed a short distance southwest of Jeju Island offshore South Korea. After entering the Yellow Sea, Fengshen weakened into a tropical depression, and on July 27 the JTWC discontinued advisories, after much of the convection had dissipated. The JMA continued tracking the system, and Fengshen made landfall on China's Shandong Peninsula late on July 27. The next day, the depression dissipated over the Bohai Sea.
caption: Typhoons Fengshen (north) and Fung-Wong (south) undergoing the Fujiwhara effect on July 25
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