1997 Pacific Typhoon Season

The 1997 Pacific typhoon season was a record-breaking season featuring 18 tropical cyclones reaching super typhoon intensity, breaking the record for the most violent tropical cyclones in the West Pacific. It has no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1997, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between May and November. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.

The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean, north of the equator and west of the International Date Line. Storms that form east of the Date Line and north of the equator are called hurricanes; see the 1997 Pacific hurricane season. Tropical Storms formed in the entire west Pacific basin were assigned a name by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Tropical depressions in this basin have the "W" suffix added to their number. Tropical depressions that enter or form in the Philippine area of responsibility are assigned a name by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration or PAGASA. This can often result in the same storm having two names.

Tropical Depression Podul (Zoraida)
Early on January 26, the JMA reported that a tropical disturbance had developed to the southeast of Manila, Philippines. Following an increase in organization, the JTWC issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert for the system during January 27, as it was named Zoraida by PAGASA. Fortunately, the storm stayed far from land, and dissipated on January 28, 1997.