Taipei Typhoon Season: What Travelers Need to Know (2026)

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Taipei typhoon season is something to factor in if you are planning a Taiwan trip for summer or autumn. Typhoons that pass close to Taiwan can affect Taipei in some way – from heavy rain and gusty wind to full city shutdowns where MRT service halts and the government cancels work and school. If you are flying into Taipei in August or September, the typhoon season is genuinely worth planning around. If you are visiting in May or November, it is a small footnote. This 2026 guide explains when Taipei typhoon season runs, what to expect, how to track storms, what to do if your trip lands during one, and which months to book for to minimize the risk.

When Is Taipei Typhoon Season?

Taipei typhoon season is concentrated in summer, but the risk carries on into autumn. July, August and September have historically brought the most typhoons to Taiwan, with August the busiest month, and the Central Weather Administration counts September and October among the typically active months. May and June see the occasional early-season storm but produce more “plum rain” (continuous monsoon-style rain) than full typhoons. From December through April typhoons are rare. For the season ahead, read the Central Weather Administration’s typhoon season forecast.

Here is how the months compare for typhoons affecting Taiwan:

May: occasional early-season storms; plum rain is the bigger factor.

June: fewer than the summer peak months.

July: one of the three busiest months, second only to August.

August: peak season – historically the month with the most typhoons.

September: still peak, third behind August and July.

October: quieter than summer, but still a typically active month.

November: the season tails off, though late storms can still form.

Destructive storms can come at any point in the peak months. Morakot struck in early August 2009, Soudelor on 8 August 2015 and Megi on 27 September 2016.

What Actually Happens in Taipei During a Typhoon

This matters more than the headlines. A “typhoon hit” can mean anything from “we got 20mm of rain and breezy wind” to “the city was shut down for 36 hours and the high-speed rail stopped.” Taipei specifically is somewhat sheltered: the city sits in a basin surrounded by mountains, which weakens incoming storms compared to the east coast (Yilan, Hualien) and the south (Kaohsiung). A storm that devastates the east coast often arrives in Taipei as heavy rain and wind but not catastrophic damage.

That said, even moderate Taipei typhoons disrupt travel in predictable ways:

Flights: Taoyuan International Airport and the airlines decide on closures and cancellations storm by storm, so keep an eye on your airline’s flight-status notices as a typhoon approaches. Songshan Domestic Airport closes faster. Expect mass cancellations during direct hits.

High-speed rail (HSR): Service reduces or suspends when winds exceed safety thresholds. Tunnels and elevated sections are most vulnerable. Refunds are automatic.

Conventional rail (TRA): Eastern line (Yilan, Hualien) often suspends first. Western trunk line usually keeps running but at reduced frequency.

MRT (Taipei subway): Much of the MRT is underground or elevated with weather protection, but Taipei Metro slows or suspends service when winds are high, and station entrances can flood briefly in extreme storms. Check Taipei Metro’s service announcements before you travel. Buses are more affected.

Taxis and Uber: Uber takes requests around the clock in Taipei, but that is no promise of a car at the height of a storm. Don’t count on a taxi or ride-hail for an airport run in the worst hours; leave time and have a fallback.

Restaurants, shops, attractions: The Taipei City Government declares a “typhoon day” (停班停課) for the strongest storms. The announcement says whether work and school are off for a full day or half a day. Government offices and public schools shut, and plenty of private businesses do too, although private employers follow their own rules. Many convenience stores (7-Eleven, FamilyMart) stay open, but some close or run short of stock. Some night markets and outdoor attractions close even on borderline storm days.

Power and internet: Taipei’s grid is robust; brief outages are possible but city-wide blackouts are rare. Hotel WiFi typically stays up.

How to Track Typhoons Heading for Taipei

You can follow a typhoon on the forecasts as it develops, and formal warnings come later: the Central Weather Administration (中央氣象署) issues a sea warning about 24 hours before gale-force winds threaten nearby waters, and a land warning about 18 hours before they threaten land. It is the official Taiwan source and publishes English-language warnings and tracking maps. Useful tools:

cwa.gov.tw/eng: Central Weather Administration English site. Official typhoon warnings, real-time tracking, satellite imagery, and forecast cones.

Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC): US Navy site that tracks Pacific typhoons. More technical, often releases forecast updates slightly ahead of CWA.

Windy.com: Excellent visualization of incoming storms with multiple model overlays. Free.

Twitter (X) accounts: @CWA_eng (official), @typhoon_news, and several private Taiwan weather enthusiasts post forecast updates faster than the official site.

Taipei City Government Twitter and website: Full-day or morning “typhoon day” closures are announced between 7pm and 10pm the evening before, and the media broadcast them before 11pm. If a storm worsens overnight, the city decides before 4:30am and the news goes out before 5am. Further announcements can follow as conditions change.

A typhoon’s path is forecast with a “cone of uncertainty” that narrows as the storm approaches, so go by the CWA’s latest track rather than one from a few days earlier. If the cone clearly includes Taipei, plan for impacts; if Taipei sits on the edge of the cone, expect heavy rain and wind but not full shutdown.

Should You Cancel Your Trip?

Almost never, unless a major typhoon is forecast to hit during your exact travel days. Even in the peak months of Taipei typhoon season, the city has perfectly pleasant weather most days. How much of a trip one storm takes depends on its track, any flooding and how quickly transport gets going again. Away from the storm itself you can expect warm temperatures, decent weather, and far fewer tourists than in non-typhoon months.

The case for cancellation rises sharply when:

The current official forecast shows a major typhoon (Category 3+) making landfall within 48 hours of your arrival or during your stay.

You have inflexible travel plans (cruise, group tour, one-day visit) that cannot tolerate disruption.

You are flying into Taipei from somewhere with limited rebooking options.

For most independent travelers with normal hotel and flight bookings, the right call is to monitor forecasts and rebook only if a confirmed major storm threatens your trip. Travel insurance with weather coverage handles the edge cases.

What to Do If You Are Caught in a Typhoon

If a typhoon hits during your trip, here is the practical playbook:

Stock up the day before. Buy snacks, water, and a phone charger. Convenience stores stay open but get crowded.

Stay in your hotel during the peak hours. Hotel WiFi, room service or food you bought earlier, and any onsite gym/spa become your friends. Avoid windows in extreme storms.

If a typhoon day is declared, treat it as a free indoor day. Most museums, malls, and indoor attractions close. Use the time for catching up on sleep, working through movies, or planning the rest of your trip.

Watch the MRT, not buses or taxis. If you must move during a typhoon day, the MRT is usually a better bet than buses or taxis, but check Taipei Metro’s service announcements first. Walking outside is dangerous during peak wind hours due to flying objects (signs, debris).

Buy food before a typhoon day is declared. In Taipei, delivery platforms must tell couriers to stop delivering while a typhoon work suspension is in force, so Foodpanda and Uber Eats are no fallback during the storm. Once deliveries restart, tip generously – couriers are working in hard conditions.

If your flight is cancelled, rebook online first. Phone waits depend on the airline and how wide the disruption is. Each airline sets its own terms, too: EVA Air’s 2026 waiver for Typhoon Saudel covered specified flights and waived one change fee, but fare and tax differences were still payable, so read your airline’s notice before you rebook. Hotels in Taipei honor extended stays without overnight surcharge if you are stranded by a typhoon.

Outdoor attractions reopen quickly. Yangmingshan, Beitou, Tamsui, and the surrounding hiking areas may have damage and trail closures for a few days after a major storm. Check before going.

Insurance and Booking Strategy

If you are booking during Taipei typhoon season, a few simple precautions:

Buy travel insurance with weather coverage. Specifically look for “trip interruption due to severe weather” and ideally “trip cancellation.” Standard policies (World Nomads, Allianz, Travel Guard) cover typhoons in Taiwan. Annual policies are cheaper if you travel multiple times a year.

Book flexible hotel rates. Free-cancellation rates usually cost more, so compare each hotel’s rate and cancellation terms before you choose. Booking.com and Agoda offer free cancellation on most properties; Airbnb is usually less flexible.

Avoid non-refundable tour bookings. If you want day trips to Jiufen, Yehliu, or Sun Moon Lake, book closer to the date or use providers with weather refund policies (Klook, KKDay both offer this on most tours).

Build buffer days at the start and end. If you have a tight onward connection, arrive a day early. If you have an important meeting after Taiwan, leave Taiwan a day early. A 48-hour buffer absorbs almost all typhoon disruption.

Keep some cash and snacks. Mostly out of an abundance of caution – Taipei is well-supplied during typhoons – but having NT$3,000-5,000 cash and a few protein bars in your hotel room costs nothing.

Best Months to Visit Around Taipei Typhoon Season

If you want to dodge Taipei typhoon season entirely, here is the calendar in order of risk:

Lowest risk: December-March. Typhoons are rare. Cool, damp weather, with average lows of 14-16 °C from December to February and occasional cold-front rain.

Low risk: April, May, late November. Spring and shoulder-season weather. Possible plum-rain monsoon in early May.

Moderate risk: June, late October, mid-November. Storms possible but usually weak or off-track.

Higher risk: July. Hot and storm-active, and one of the three busiest months for typhoons.

Highest risk: August, September. Peak season: August has historically seen more typhoons than any other month, with July and September next. Plan for at least one disruption if visiting more than a week.

Conversely, the post-typhoon-day weather is often spectacular – clear skies, low humidity, dramatic visibility. If a typhoon passes during your trip, the days immediately after can be the best of your visit.

Historical Major Typhoons in Taipei

Some context on what severe Taipei typhoons can look like, drawn from the most damaging storms of the past 20 years:

Typhoon Soudelor (August 2015): Made landfall in Hualien early on 8 August, with maximum sustained winds of 173 km/h by mid-morning, and brought severe wind damage and transport disruption to Taipei. Power outages for hundreds of thousands of households. The Yangmingshan area saw extreme damage to trees and trails.

Typhoon Megi (September 2016): Struck Taiwan on 27 September, a reminder that destructive storms keep coming after the end of August.

Typhoon Morakot (August 2009): Catastrophic flooding in southern Taiwan. Reference storm for how unevenly typhoons distribute their effect across Taiwan.

Typhoon Khanun (August 2023): Recent reference storm. It moved through the Okinawa region in early August 2023 and then on toward the Korean Peninsula.

The trend over the past decade has been more frequent but slightly weaker storms reaching Taipei. Climate-related sea-temperature increases mean storms have more energy at formation, but most of that energy still dissipates over the Central Mountain Range before hitting the city.

Specific Activities and Typhoon Season

If you are visiting during Taipei typhoon season, some activities are more typhoon-resistant than others:

Reliable in typhoon weather: Museums (National Palace Museum, MOCA, Songshan Cultural Park indoor galleries), mall food courts, department store shopping, hot pot restaurants, gay nightlife in Ximending Red House (covered courtyard), Beitou hot spring hotels (most have indoor pools), and the basement food halls.

Cancel if a typhoon is forecast: Yangmingshan hikes, Maokong Gondola (closes in high wind), Yehliu Geopark (very exposed coast), Pingxi lantern release, day trips to Jiufen or Shifen, any beach trip to Fulong or the north coast.

Worth a coin flip: Taipei 101 Observatory (check the operator’s announcements on a storm day, and views are non-existent in storm cloud), Ximending shopping (shops may close), Shilin and Raohe night markets (stalls may shut in heavy rain).

Related Taipei guides

Frequently Asked Questions

When is Taipei typhoon season?

Typhoon activity is concentrated in July, August and September, with August historically the busiest month, and the Central Weather Administration counts October as a typically active month too. From December through April typhoons are rare.

How many typhoons hit Taipei per year?

The Central Weather Administration gives a historical range of 3 to 5 typhoons affecting Taiwan’s vicinity between June and December. How hard each one hits Taipei varies, and the city decides on a “typhoon day” storm by storm.

Is it safe to travel to Taipei during typhoon season?

Yes, with reasonable precautions. Typhoons can slow or suspend the MRT, so check Taipei Metro’s service announcements before travelling, and follow the Central Weather Administration as a storm develops: its sea warnings come about a day ahead of gale-force winds offshore, its land warnings about 18 hours ahead. Most visitors during typhoon season experience no major disruption. Buy travel insurance with weather coverage and build flexibility into your itinerary.

Should I cancel my Taipei trip if a typhoon is forecast?

Usually no, but it depends on the storm: its track, any flooding and how fast transport recovers decide how much of your trip it touches. Cancel only if a major typhoon (Category 3+) is forecast to hit during your exact arrival or departure days, or if your itinerary cannot tolerate any disruption.

How can I track typhoons heading for Taipei?

Use the Central Weather Administration (cwa.gov.tw/eng) for official Taiwan warnings, plus Windy.com for visualization. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) provides US Navy forecasts. Taipei City Government announces full-day or morning “typhoon day” closures between 7pm and 10pm the evening before; when a storm worsens overnight, the call comes before 4:30am and is broadcast before 5am.

What happens to flights during Taipei typhoons?

Cancellations depend on the storm, the airport and the airline, so follow your airline’s flight-status notices as a typhoon approaches. Rebooking terms differ by airline and by storm: check what your airline’s waiver covers, including whether you still pay any fare difference. A direct hit can bring mass cancellations.

Does the MRT keep running during typhoons?

Often, but not always. Much of the Taipei MRT is underground or weather-protected, but Taipei Metro slows or suspends service when winds are high, so check its announcements before you travel. Buses are more frequently disrupted.

When is the worst month for typhoons in Taipei?

August has historically had the most typhoons affecting Taiwan, with July and September next. Together those three months are the peak of Taipei typhoon season.

Are hotels open during typhoons?

Yes. Hotels remain open and operational throughout typhoons, including check-in and check-out. Many will honor extended stays at the same rate if you are stranded by a flight cancellation. Hotel restaurants may reduce service, and delivery platforms stop deliveries while a typhoon work suspension is in force, so keep some food in your room.

Can I get a refund if my Taipei trip is cancelled due to a typhoon?

It depends on your bookings. Travel insurance with weather coverage typically covers flight cancellations, hotel night losses, and trip interruption. Direct refunds from airlines are limited to involuntary cancellations on their side; voluntary cancellations by you usually only get the standard cancellation policy of your fare class.

The Bottom Line

Taipei typhoon season is a real consideration for visitors traveling between July and October, especially in August and September. But it is not a reason to avoid Taiwan in those months – storms are forecastable, the city is well-prepared, and most disruption can be planned around. Build flexibility into your itinerary, buy travel insurance with weather coverage, monitor forecasts in the week before you travel, and treat any storm day as an unexpected indoor adventure rather than a ruined trip. Outside the peak July-September window, the typhoon risk drops, and from December to April typhoons are rare. Plan accordingly and enjoy the rest of what is one of Asia’s most rewarding destinations.

Photo Credits

Storm clouds behind Taipei 101: 聖帕颱風前夕 IMG 3843 (1215395083) by Jimmy Yao, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Low clouds around Taipei 101: Hino 500 KLE-3892, MTC 206-FY and Taipei 101 (52503800767) by GillyBerlin, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Rain in Da’an District: 106台灣台北市大安區 – panoramio by Tianmu peter, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Erziping Trail in Yangmingshan: Erziping Trail by Kolyma, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.