The eighteenth named storm and eighth typhoon of the 2020 Pacific typhoon season, Molave originated from a tropical depression that formed on October 23 east of Palau. At 15:00 UTC the next day, the depression was upgraded into Tropical Storm Molave as it drifted generally northwestward. Molave soon became a typhoon on October 25 as it turned west, shortly before making landfall on the San Miguel Island in Albay, with another in Malinao, San Andres, Torrijos and Pola.