Typhoon Alex (1987)  Typhoon Alex, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Etang, affected the Taiwan, China, and South Korea during July 1987. Typhoon Alex developed from the monsoon trough that spawned a tropical disturbance late on July 21 southwest of Guam which organized into a tropical depression shortly thereafter. The system steadily became better organized, and the next day, a tropical depression had developed. Satellite intensity estimates gradually increased, and on July 23, the depression intensified into Tropical Storm Alex. After initially tracking west-northwest, Tropical Storm Alex started tracking northwest. An eye developed on July 24, and on the next day, Alex was classified as a typhoon, when Alex attained its peak intensity of 120 km/h (75 mph) and a minimum barometric pressure of 970 mbar (29 inHg). Alex weakened while tracking more northward, though interaction with Taiwan resulted in a more westward track starting on July 27. The storm struck near Shanghai as a tropical storm, and weakened over land, although it remained identifiable through August 2. Across Taiwan, the storm inflicted minor damage and one person was killed. In the province of Zhejiang, Alex damaged or destroyed over 200 fishing boats, wiped out 22 bridges, snapped 32 power lines, and flooded four reservoirs. Damage there exceeded US$1.8 million. In Jiaxing, at least 121,405 ha (300,000 acres) of farmland were flooded. Nation-wide, 125 people were killed and roughly 200 were wounded. Close to 700 homes were demolished while roughly 200 fishing boats were damaged. Across South Korea, the storm dumped heavy rainfall, with daily totals of 300 mm (12 in) in some places, triggering flooding and landslides. Typhoon Alex developed in the western edge of the Western Pacific monsoon trough which stretched near the 10th parallel north from the Carolina Islands to the International Date Line. Late on July 21, satellite imagery first detected a tropical disturbance to the southwest of Guam, which prompted the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) to upgrade the system to a tropical depression. At 06:00 UTC on the next day, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) began to follow the system as the disturbance had developed curved banding features. A rapid increase in both convection and organization followed, and at 18:00 UTC on July 22, satellite imagery showed the development of a central dense overcast, with Dvorak intensity estimates supporting an intensity of .