| Severe tropical storm (JMA) | |
|---|---|
| Category 1 typhoon (SSHS) | |
| Guchol near peak intensity. | |
| Formed | August 21, 2005 |
| Dissipated | August 25, 2005 |
| Highest winds | 10-minute sustained: 100 km/h (65 mph) 1-minute sustained: 120 km/h (75 mph) |
| Lowest pressure | 980 mbar (hPa; 28.94 inHg) |
| Fatalities | None reported |
| Damage | None |
| Areas affected | No land areas |
| Part of the 2005 Pacific typhoon season | |
Severe Tropical Storm Guchol (international designation: 0512, JTWC designation: 12W) was the twelfth tropical storm monitored by both the Japan Meteorological Agency and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. It remained far away from any land masses when it travelled over part of the North Pacific Ocean in August 2005.
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On the morning of August 18, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center identified an area of convection about 870 miles (1,400 km) east of Iwo Jima that had a minimum pressure of 1,010 millibars (1,010 hPa). At that time, there was increasing thunderstorm activity around a weak lower level center (LLC). Due to that reason, the possibility for the system to become a tropical cyclone at that time was set at "Poor".[1]. Later, on August 19 the JTWC upgraded the chance that the system could become a tropical cyclone in the next 24 hours to "Fair" because that there was more thunderstorm activity and that the storm was in an area of low to moderate wind shear.[2] That evening, a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert was issued due to a strong LLC. At this time, the storm had winds of 25 to 30 miles per hour (40 to 48 km/h) and a pressure of 1004 mbar (hPa).[3]. The next day, the storm slowly consolidated and the Japan Meteorological Agency upgraded the low pressure system to a tropical depression at 0000 UTC on August 20. At that time, the JMA considered the system to have a pressure of 1010 hPa.[4] At noon of this day, the JTWC designated the area of low pressure as Tropical Depression 12W.[5]
The storm remained at this strength until August 21. Very early that morning, the JTWC upgraded the depression to a tropical storm while the storm was 475 miles (764 km) east of Iwo Jima.[6]. Just 3 hours later, the JMA upgraded the storm to Tropical Storm Guchol (see Naming).[7] On August 22, the JMA upgraded the storm to a severe tropical storm and Guchol reached its peak intensity.[7] On August 23, Guchol reached its peak intensity according to the JTWC.[8]. Guchol held its peak strength until August 25 when it was downgraded to a tropical storm by the JMA. Guchol became an extratropical low 6 hours later.[7] The JTWC had issued their final advisory the day earlier.[8]
The name Guchol was submitted to the ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee by the Federated States of Micronesia for use from January 1, 2000 and is the Yapese name for the spice turmeric.[9][10] This was the first time that the name Guchol had been used in the North West Pacific Ocean, or anywhere in the world. As Guchol did not affect any land or cause any damage, the name was not retired after the 2005 season and is still on the tropical cyclone name list for the Western Pacific.[11]