In late July 2003, an area of disturbed weather began to persist northwest of Chuuk in the Philippine Sea, and was first noted by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) early on July 30.
As atmospheric conditions remained favorable throughout the day's duration, the system organized, and was upgraded to tropical depression status by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) at 0600 UTC on July 31, followed by the JTWC at 0600 UTC and Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) six hours later.
The PAGASA consequently named the system Juaning for local purposes.
Tracking north-northwestward under the influence of a passing trough, the system intensified further into a tropical storm by 0600 UTC on August 2, thus receiving the name Morakot.
At the time, the storm was well organized with a steady outflow pattern.

Intensification continued, and at 1800 UTC on August 2 the JMA determined Morakot to have peaked in intensity with winds of 85 km/h (50 mph) and a minimum barometric pressure of 992 mbar (hPa; 28.29 inHg); however, the JTWC still considered Morakot to have been a strengthening tropical cyclone at the time.
The appearance of a ragged eye prompted the agency to upgrade the storm to typhoon status at 0600 UTC on August 3, though other agencies still maintained Morakot's tropical storm classification.
Over the rest of the day the cyclone moved rather erratically before making its first landfall on Tainan, Taiwan late on August 3.
Morakot had slightly weakened prior to landfall and as such estimates from the JMA of the storm's intensity at the time of landfall were slightly lowered to 75 km/h (45 mph).
Despite the slowing of the storm's forward motion as it moved across the island, passage over Taiwan was brief and Morakot entered the Taiwan Strait by early on August 4.
The cyclone's northwesterly track brought the storm to a second landfall, this time near Quanzhou, China, at approximately 1000 UTC that day.
Weakening was quick over China, and by two hours after landfall the JMA declared Morakot to have weakened below tropical depression intensity.
The JTWC continued to monitor the system until it was determined to have dissipated by 0000 UTC on August 5.
In late July 2003, an area of disturbed weather began to persist northwest of Chuuk in the Philippine Sea, and was first noted by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) early on July 30. As atmospheric conditions remained favorable throughout the day's duration, the system organized, and was upgraded to tropical depression status by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) at 0600 UTC on July 31, followed by the JTWC at 0600 UTC and Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) six hours later. The PAGASA consequently named the system Juaning for local purposes. Tracking north-northwestward under the influence of a passing trough, the system intensified further into a tropical storm by 0600 UTC on August 2, thus receiving the name Morakot. At the time, the storm was well organized with a steady outflow pattern.
Intensification continued, and at 1800 UTC on August 2 the JMA determined Morakot to have peaked in intensity with winds of 85 km/h (50 mph) and a minimum barometric pressure of 992 mbar (hPa; 28.29 inHg); however, the JTWC still considered Morakot to have been a strengthening tropical cyclone at the time. The appearance of a ragged eye prompted the agency to upgrade the storm to typhoon status at 0600 UTC on August 3, though other agencies still maintained Morakot's tropical storm classification. Over the rest of the day the cyclone moved rather erratically before making its first landfall on Tainan, Taiwan late on August 3. Morakot had slightly weakened prior to landfall and as such estimates from the JMA of the storm's intensity at the time of landfall were slightly lowered to 75 km/h (45 mph). Despite the slowing of the storm's forward motion as it moved across the island, passage over Taiwan was brief and Morakot entered the Taiwan Strait by early on August 4. The cyclone's northwesterly track brought the storm to a second landfall, this time near Quanzhou, China, at approximately 1000 UTC that day. Weakening was quick over China, and by two hours after landfall the JMA declared Morakot to have weakened below tropical depression intensity. The JTWC continued to monitor the system until it was determined to have dissipated by 0000 UTC on August 5.
Tropical Storm Morakot (2003)