page_title: Tropical Storm Linfa (2003)
section_title: Meteorological history
hierarchical_section_title: Tropical Storm Linfa (2003) / Meteorological history
caption_attribution_description: Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale TD TS 1 2 3 4 5 English: Tropical Storm Linfa 2003 track. Uses the color scheme from the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale.
context_page_description: Severe Tropical Storm Linfa, known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Chedeng, brought deadly flooding to areas of the Philippines and Japan in May and June 2003. The fifth named storm within the northwestern Pacific that year, Linfa developed as a tropical depression just off the western coast of Luzon on May 25. The disturbance quickly intensified to reach tropical storm intensity a few hours after cyclogenesis. However, intensification leveled off as Linfa executed a small clockwise loop before a subsequent landfall on Luzon on May 27. Due to land interaction the storm temporarily weakened and decoupled before reforming in the Philippine Sea. Afterwards Linfa began reintensifying and reached its peak intensity on May 29 with maximum sustained winds of 100 km/h and a barometric pressure of 980 mbar. Following its peak the tropical storm began to deteriorate and transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on May 30; these extratropical remnants continued to track northward through Japan before dissipating in the Sea of Okhotsk on June 4.
context_section_description: In late-May an area of disturbed weather began to persist roughly 650 km (400 mi) west of Manila, Philippines in the South China Sea. Late on May 23, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) began to monitor the area for potential signs of tropical cyclogenesis. Over the next few days the disturbance began to consolidate towards a common low pressure center, resulting in a burst in convective activity. At 0000 UTC on May 25, the JTWC classified the resulting system as a tropical depression west of Luzon; six hours later both the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) began to monitor the newly formed tropical cyclone, though the latter classified it as a tropical storm. During these initial stages of development the tropical cyclone slowly intensified as it slowly tracked in a clockwise loop throughout the course of the day. At 1800 UTC, the JTWC upgraded the depression to tropical storm status while the JMA followed suit six hours later, thus designating the cyclone with the name Linfa.
  In response to a strengthening ridge to the south, Linfa began tracking eastward. Despite its proximity to land, the tropical storm's slow forward motion allowed for additional strengthening, and according to the JMA, Linfa reached an initial peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 90 km/h (50 mph) at 0000 UTC on May 27, just within the threshold of severe tropical storm status. Concurrently the cyclone made landfall near Dagupan, Luzon. Upon landfall, Linfa began to weaken as it crossed Luzon before emerging into the Pacific as a minimal tropical storm late that day. However, as a result of land interaction the initial surface circulation center of Linfa greatly weakened and was overtaken by a newly formed low-level circulation center on May 28, resulting in the storm's position to shift well northeastward. This was the primary basis on which the JTWC downgraded Linfa to tropical depression status early on May 28, though the JMA continued to analyze the system as a weak tropical storm. Afterwards, as the cyclone began to track northeastward, the new circulation center became more organized, resulting in the JTWC reclassifying Linfa as a tropical storm at 0600 UTC the following day. Gradual strengthening followed, and at 1800 UTC that day Linfa reached peak intensity with winds of 100 km/h (65 mph) and a minimum barometric pressure of 980 mbar (hPa; 28.94 inHg) south of Okinawa. Subsequently, the system began to take a more northward course and undergo extratropical transition, which was completed at 0000 UTC on May 30. Though by this time most tropical cyclone monitoring agencies ceased the monitoring of these extratropical remnants by this time, the JMA continued to track them as they made landfall near Uwajima, Ehime at 0800 UTC the following day. Linfa's remnants then paralleled the western coast of Japan before dissipating on June 4 well into the Sea of Okhotsk.
caption: Map plotting the track and the intensity of the storm, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
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