Abstract. The northwestern Pacific Ocean and South China Sea are where tropical
cyclones occur most frequently. Many climatologists also study the formation
of Pacific Ocean warm pools and typhoons in this region. This study
collected data of paleotyphoons found in China's official historical records
over the past 2000 years that contained known typhoon activity reports. The
collected data are then subjected to statistical analyses focusing on typhoon
activity in coastal regions of southeastern China to garner a better
understanding of the long-term evolution of moving paths and occurrence
frequency, especially regarding those typhoons making landfall in mainland China. We
analyzed the data with the year and month of each typhoon event, as well as
the number of events in a 10-year period. The result shows that (1) north–southward
migration of typhoon paths corresponds to the north–southward
migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) during the Medieval Warm
Period (MWP) and Little Ice Age (LIA) and (2) paleotyphoons made landfall in
mainland China 1 month earlier during the MWP than during the LIA. This
implies a northward shift in ITCZ during the MWP. Typhoons tend to make landfall
in Japan during El Niño-like periods and strike the southern coastal regions
of China during La Niña-like stages. According to paleotyphoon records over
the last 2000 years, typhoons made landfall in southeastern China
frequently around 490–510, 700–850, and after 1500 CE The number
of typhoons striking Guangdong Province peaked during the coldest period in
1660–1680 CE; however, after 1700 CE, landfall has migrated farther
north. The track of tropical cyclones (TCs) in the northwestern Pacific
Ocean is affected by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Pacific
Decadal Oscillation (PDO), which shows a nearly 30-year and a 60-year cycle
during the LIA.