Typhoon Tip was the largest and most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded worldwide. The forty-third tropical depression, nineteenth tropical storm, twelfth typhoon, and third super typhoon of the 1979 Pacific typhoon season, Tip developed out of a disturbance within the monsoon trough on October 4 near Pohnpei in Micronesia. Initially, Tropical Storm Roger to the northwest hindered the development and motion of the system, although after the storm tracked farther north, Tip was able to intensify due to more favorable conditions within the region. After passing Guam, Tip rapidly intensified and reached peak sustained winds of and a worldwide record-low sea-level pressure of on October 12. At its peak, Tip was the largest tropical cyclone on record, with a windfield diameter of . The typhoon briefly entered the area of warning responsibility for PAGASA on October 13, which gave it the Filipino name Warling. Tip slowly weakened as it continued west-northwestward and later turned to the northeast, in response to an approaching trough. After its approach, Tip made landfall in southern Japan on October 19, and became an extratropical cyclone shortly after its landfall. The system's extratropical remnants continued moving east-northeastward, until they dissipated near the Aleutian Islands on October 24.
U.S. Air Force aircraft flew approximately 60 weather reconnaissance missions into the storm, making Tip one of the most closely observed tropical cyclones. Rainfall from the storm indirectly led to a fire that killed 13 United States Marines and injured 68 at Combined Arms Training Center, Camp Fuji in the Shizuoka Prefecture of Japan. Elsewhere in the country, the typhoon also caused widespread flooding and 42 deaths; offshore shipwrecks left 44 people killed or missing.
Meteorological history
At the end of September 1979, three circulations developed within the monsoon trough that extended from the Philippines to the Marshall Islands. The westernmost disturbance developed into a tropical depression on October 1, to the west of Luzon, which would later become Typhoon Sarah on October 7. On October 3, the disturbance southwest of Guam developed into Tropical Storm Roger, and later on the same day, a third tropical disturbance that would later become Typhoon Tip formed south of Pohnpei. Strong flow from across the equator was drawn into Roger's wind circulation, initially preventing significant development of the precursor disturbance to Tip. Despite the unfavorable air pattern, the tropical disturbance gradually organized as it moved westward. Due to the large-scale circulation pattern of Tropical Storm Roger, Tip's precursor moved erratically and slowly executed a cyclonic loop to the southeast of Chuuk. A reconnaissance aircraft flight into the system late on October 4 confirmed the existence of a closed low-level circulation, and early on October 5, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued its first warning on Tropical Depression Twenty-Three-W. At the time of its peak strength, its eye was wide.
After peaking in intensity, Tip weakened to and remained at that intensity for several days, as it continued west-northwestward. For five days after its peak strength, the average radius of winds stronger than extended over . On October 17, Tip began to weaken steadily and decrease in size, recurving northeastward under the influence of a mid-level trough the next day. After passing about east of Okinawa, the typhoon accelerated to . Tip made landfall on the Japanese island of Honshū with winds of about on October 19. It continued rapidly northeastward through the country and became an extratropical cyclone over northern Honshū a few hours after moving ashore. At its largest, Tip was nearly half the size of the contiguous United States. The temperature inside the eye of Typhoon Tip at peak intensity was and described as exceptionally high. The records set by Tip still technically stand, though with the end of routine reconnaissance aircraft flights in the western Pacific Ocean in August 1987, modern researchers have questioned whether Tip indeed remains the strongest. After a detailed study, three researchers determined that two typhoons, Angela in 1995 and Gay in 1992, registered higher Dvorak numbers than Tip, and concluded that one or both of the two may have therefore been more intense. Other recent storms may have also been more intense than Tip at its peak; for instance, satellite-derived intensity estimates for Typhoon Haiyan of 2013 indicated that its core pressure may have been as low as . Due to the dearth of direct observations and Hurricane hunters into these cyclones, conclusive data is lacking.
Impact
Guam and the Philippines
The typhoon produced heavy rainfall early in its lifetime while passing near Guam, including a total of at Andersen Air Force Base. The outer rainbands of the large circulation of Tip produced moderate rainfall in the mountainous regions of the Philippine islands of Luzon and Visayas.
Japan
Heavy rainfall from the typhoon breached a flood-retaining wall at Camp Fuji, a training facility for the United States Marine Corps near Yokosuka. The resultant fire killed 13 Marines, injured 68, along with fifteen huts and several other structures. The barracks were rebuilt, Transportation in the country was disrupted; 200 trains and 160 domestic flights were canceled. In total, damages associated with Tip in Japan were estimated as billion (US$482.34 million in 1979 USD, US$2.09 billion in 2024). Tip was described as the most severe storm to strike Japan in 13 years.
See also
- List of tropical cyclone records
- Hypercane