The Philippines is prone to tropical cyclones 

due to its geographical location which generally produce heavy rains and

flooding of large areas and also strong winds which result in heavy casualties to human life and destructions to crops and
properties.

The Philippines is located just above the equator and faces the western Pacific, with little else to absorb the energy of
storms before they hit land. Storms are fuelled by the warm, tropical waters, which produce roughly 20 typhoons each
year

Typhoons:

Typhoons are tropical cyclones that occur in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean, which is the most active tropical cyclone
basin in the world. Typhoons start out as weak disturbances called tropical depressions, then strengthen to tropical
cyclones, and finally typhoons wind sustained winds reach 64 knots.

The Philippines are prone to typhoons because of their latitude and because they're surrounded by warm ocean
water. The Philippines are in the Tropics, but also far enough from the equator that the Coriolis Force can still act on
these storms. One of the major storm tracks in the Northwestern Pacific runs through the area, so many storm that form
further east in the Pacific tend to move with the prevailing winds westward, striking the Philippines and surrounding
islands.

The Philippines is located on near the equator where the ocean is warm, a requirement for the formation of typhoons.

The wind in this part of the Earth is also West-ward blowing so typhoons that form over the Pacific often blows over into
the Philippines. There are instances where a typhoon is ripped by shearing against the Eastwards blowing winds located
near Japan.In short, the Philippines is one of the countries located on a typhoon belt, specifically the Pacific Typhoon
Belt. Being in the typhoon belt is self-explanatory, typhoons go over this belt like a conveyor belt carries luggage and
sadly, the Philippines is in the way.

A typhoon forms when winds blow into areas of the ocean where the water is warm. These winds collect moisture and
rise, while colder air moves in below. This creates pressure, which causes the winds to move very quickly. The winds
rotate, or spin, around a center called an eye.

How are typhoons in the Philippines formed?

Answer and Explanation: The Philippines are prone to typhoons because of their latitude and because they're
surrounded by warm ocean water. The Philippines are in the Tropics, but also far enough from the equator that the
Coriolis Force can still act on these storms.

Typhoons are most likely to form in the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), where the North-East and South-East
trade winds meet.

The formation of a typhoon depends on the following conditions coinciding.

A large, still, warm ocean area with a surface temperature above 26.5 OC over an extended period of time.

This allows a body of warm air to develop above the ocean surface.

A tropical cyclone is a rapid rotating storm originating over tropical oceans from where it draws the energy to develop.
Low altitude winds are also needed to form a typhoon.

The rising air contains a huge amount of moisture evaporated from the ocean surface.

As air warms over the ocean, it expands, becomes lighter and rises. Other local winds blow in to replace the air that has
risen, which in turn warms and also rises. The rising air contains a huge amount of moisture evaporated from the ocean
surface.

Rising drafts of air carry moisture high into the atmosphere which causes the clouds to become very thick and heavy.

As it rises the air cools, and the moisture condenses to form huge clouds about 10 km up in the troposphere.
 Conver
ging-winds

More warm air rushes in and rises, drawn in by the draft above. The rising drafts of air carry moisture high into the
atmosphere which causes the clouds to become very thick and heavy.

Condensation then releases the latent heat energy stored in the water vapour, providing the typhoon with more power.
This creates a self-sustaining heat cycle.

Drawn further up into the atmosphere by the release of energy, the clouds can grow up to 12 – 15 km high.

The force created by the earth’s rotation on a tilted axis, (the Coriolis Effect), causes rising currents of air to spiral
around the centre of the typhoon.

The force created by the earth’s rotation on a tilted axis, (the Coriolis Effect), causes rising currents of air to spiral
around the centre of the typhoon. It’s at this stage that the typhoon matures, and the eye of the storm is created.

As the air rises and cools, some of the dense air descends to form the clear still eye as the typhoon rages around it.
The eye wall where the wind is strongest behaves like a whirling cylinder, (typhoons rotate anti-clockwise in the
northern hemisphere).

The lowest air pressure in a typhoon is always found in the centre and is typically 950 millibars or less. The average air
pressure at the earth’s surface is 1010 millibars, which means that typhoons have significantly lower air pressure than
the air that surrounds them.

The bigger the pressure difference, the stronger the wind force.

A look down into the eye of severe tropical typhoon Ida of 1958, Photo Public Domain,

One of the lowest air pressures ever recorded was 877 millibars for typhoon Ida, which hit the Philippians in 1958 with
wind speeds that reached 300 Km/h and resulted in 1,269 fatalities.

Once formed, the typhoon’s path or track follows a course driven by global wind circulation.

As warm ocean water feeds it heat and moisture the typhoon usually continues to enlarge.

When a typhoon passes over land or cold water, the basic fuel (warm ocean water) that drives the storm is cut off.
Passing over land will quickly weaken the storm (not because of friction as some believe, but because of the loss of the
warm moisture).