From the 1945 to the 1960s, there was a notable rising cycle in both the number of tropical storms and typhoons. In the 1970s the early 1980s, tropical activity has lessened. Starting from mid-1980s to 1997, we have seen another active phrase for the basin. Meanwhile, from the late 1990s to 2011, there was a period of low tropical activity. From 2012 onward, tropical activity in WPac seems to have picked up again. This may indicate that Wpac activity may eventually peak in the 2020s.
It is important to note that the number of cat-5 storms did not increase in every rising cycle. In the 1945-1960s rising cycle, as well as the present rising cycle, we have seen a general increase in the number of cat-5 typhoons per year. On the contrary, in the rising cycle from the 1980s to the 1990s, there is no significant increase in the number of cat-5 typhoons (with the exception of 1997 of course - the season with 10 cat-5s!)
This is the database I have compiled by myself. All the data are based on JTWC best-track.
1945 26 26 13 4 2 1 1
1946 19 19 17 11 10 5 0
1947 27 27 19 15 11 2 0
1948 26 26 15 8 5 3 0
1949 34 28 14 12 7 3 0
1950 18 18 12 7 6 2 0
1951 31 25 16 14 11 6 1
1952 29 29 20 13 11 7 5
1953 24 24 17 14 14 8 4
1954 33 19 15 12 10 6 4
1955 39 31 20 13 9 7 3
1956 39 26 18 13 9 6 3
1957 27 22 18 17 15 11 4
1958 24 23 21 16 15 11 7
1959 33 25 17 16 12 11 6
1960 39 30 20 12 9 7 0
1961 53 35 20 11 9 9 5
1962 38 31 23 14 12 8 5
1963 36 26 19 15 14 10 2
1964 58 40 26 15 13 8 5
1965 44 35 21 16 15 12 8
1966 51 33 20 16 8 5 2
1967 40 38 20 14 12 7 3
1968 39 29 20 14 13 8 4
1969 34 21 13 10 7 3 1
1970 30 25 12 12 11 8 4
1971 55 32 23 17 10 8 5
1972 38 30 22 15 14 6 1
1973 25 21 12 7 4 3 2
1974 35 32 16 8 3 2 0
1975 25 20 14 8 5 4 1
1976 30 25 14 9 9 8 1
1977 26 20 11 7 4 3 0
1978 35 29 15 7 3 2 1
1979 54 23 14 12 8 4 2
1980 44 24 15 12 9 4 1
1981 52 28 16 11 6 4 1
1982 29 25 19 15 12 6 2
1983 33 23 12 7 6 6 4
1984 44 27 16 10 8 7 1
1985 57 27 17 12 6 1 1
1986 48 29 19 15 8 4 2
1987 32 25 18 15 12 8 4
1988 52 29 14 9 7 6 1
1989 55 31 21 12 9 7 4
1990 41 31 21 16 8 7 4
1991 38 30 20 15 11 9 3
1992 40 32 21 14 11 9 3
1993 49 30 21 12 10 6 1
1994 52 36 21 16 13 11 1
1995 47 26 15 10 7 6 3
1996 52 33 21 15 10 8 4
1997 47 31 23 16 12 11 10
1998 32 18 9 7 5 4 1
1999 45 24 11 4 4 1 1
2000 51 25 15 11 8 6 3
2001 45 29 20 16 11 5 2
2002 44 27 18 14 12 10 3
2003 45 21 17 13 11 9 2
2004 45 32 19 17 14 12 4
2005 33 24 18 13 10 9 2
2006 40 23 14 12 11 10 4
2007 34 23 16 10 9 8 1
2008 40 28 12 11 8 5 1
2009 41 24 15 10 7 7 4
2010 29 16 9 5 4 2 1
2011 39 18 10 8 7 7 3
2012 35 25 15 11 10 7 3
2013 49 29 16 13 11 8 3
2014 32 22 13 9 8 8 7
2015 39 28 21 18 17 15 5
2016 51 27 17 12 11 10 5
2017 41 26 13 11 5 3 0
2018 44 29 16 12 9 7 6
2019 2 1 0 0 0 0 0
Note: It is highly probable that some data are missing for the seasons before the 1960s.
Do you guys have any thoughts on this?