Typhoon Abby (1979)
Typhoon Abby reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between November 29, 1979 and December 15, 1979, with a lowest pressure of 950 mb.
Radar
Reflectivity now over Typhoon Abby. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.























Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.
The storm
- Basin
- Western Pacific
- Dates
- November 29, 1979 to December 15, 1979
- Peak strength
- Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
- Lowest pressure
- 950 mb (28.05 inHg)
- Landfall
- No; closest approach 560 km (348 mi)
- Accumulated cyclone energy
- 18.4
- Identifier
- WP271979
Deaths and damage
No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.
Track
| Time (UTC) | Position | Wind | Pressure | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 29, 00:00 | 6.8N 169.0E | 15 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Nov 29, 06:00 | 6.8N 168.3E | 15 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Nov 29, 12:00 | 6.8N 167.7E | 15 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Nov 29, 18:00 | 6.7N 166.9E | 15 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Nov 30, 00:00 | 6.7N 166.3E | 15 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Nov 30, 06:00 | 6.6N 165.5E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Nov 30, 12:00 | 6.5N 164.9E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Nov 30, 18:00 | 6.3N 164.2E | 20 kt | Tropical storm | |
| Dec 1, 00:00 | 6.2N 163.4E | 20 kt | Mixed | |
| Dec 1, 06:00 | 5.9N 162.8E | 25 kt | 1006 mb | Mixed |
| Dec 1, 12:00 | 5.8N 161.9E | 25 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 1, 18:00 | 5.7N 160.9E | 30 kt | 1004 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 2, 00:00 | 5.8N 160.3E | 40 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 2, 06:00 | 5.9N 159.8E | 40 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 2, 12:00 | 6.0N 159.6E | 45 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 2, 18:00 | 6.1N 159.3E | 45 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 3, 00:00 | 6.3N 159.1E | 45 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 3, 06:00 | 6.5N 159.0E | 40 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 3, 12:00 | 6.8N 158.9E | 40 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 3, 18:00 | 7.3N 158.8E | 40 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 4, 00:00 | 8.1N 158.3E | 45 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 4, 06:00 | 8.2N 157.4E | 55 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 4, 12:00 | 8.2N 156.4E | 60 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 4, 18:00 | 8.2N 155.8E | 60 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 5, 00:00 | 8.2N 155.1E | 60 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 5, 06:00 | 8.1N 154.2E | 60 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 5, 12:00 | 8.0N 153.3E | 60 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 5, 18:00 | 8.3N 152.5E | 50 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 6, 00:00 | 8.8N 151.9E | 35 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 6, 06:00 | 9.2N 151.0E | 30 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 6, 12:00 | 9.5N 149.8E | 30 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 6, 18:00 | 9.8N 148.1E | 30 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 7, 00:00 | 10.0N 146.7E | 30 kt | 990 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 7, 06:00 | 10.2N 145.9E | 35 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 7, 12:00 | 10.6N 145.3E | 35 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 7, 18:00 | 11.0N 144.8E | 35 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 8, 00:00 | 11.7N 144.1E | 35 kt | 992 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 8, 06:00 | 12.1N 143.3E | 30 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 8, 12:00 | 12.2N 142.1E | 30 kt | 994 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 8, 18:00 | 11.8N 140.6E | 30 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 9, 00:00 | 11.4N 138.9E | 35 kt | 998 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 9, 06:00 | 11.0N 137.4E | 35 kt | 998 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 9, 12:00 | 10.3N 136.0E | 40 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 9, 18:00 | 10.5N 134.7E | 45 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 10, 00:00 | 11.3N 133.3E | 50 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 10, 06:00 | 11.7N 132.9E | 60 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 10, 12:00 | 12.3N 132.1E | 70 kt | 975 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 10, 18:00 | 13.1N 131.2E | 75 kt | 970 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 11, 00:00 | 13.7N 130.6E | 80 kt | 965 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 11, 06:00 | 14.2N 130.1E | 85 kt | 965 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 11, 12:00 | 15.0N 130.1E | 90 kt | 960 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 11, 18:00 | 15.7N 130.2E | 100 kt | 955 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 12, 00:00 | 16.4N 130.3E | 100 kt | 955 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 12, 06:00 | 17.1N 131.0E | 100 kt | 950 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 12, 12:00 | 18.0N 132.0E | 100 kt | 950 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 12, 18:00 | 18.9N 133.1E | 100 kt | 950 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 13, 00:00 | 19.8N 134.5E | 110 kt | 955 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 13, 06:00 | 20.5N 136.2E | 110 kt | 960 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 13, 12:00 | 21.2N 138.1E | 90 kt | 970 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 13, 18:00 | 21.8N 140.1E | 80 kt | 980 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 14, 00:00 | 22.2N 142.4E | 60 kt | 985 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 14, 06:00 | 22.6N 144.9E | 40 kt | 996 mb | Tropical storm |
| Dec 14, 12:00 | 22.7N 147.7E | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Mixed |
| Dec 14, 18:00 | 22.8N 150.3E | 30 kt | 1000 mb | Mixed |
| Dec 15, 00:00 | 23.0N 153.0E | 25 kt | 1006 mb | Mixed |
| Dec 15, 06:00 | 24.0N 156.0E | 1008 mb | Extratropical | |
| Dec 15, 12:00 | 24.4N 159.0E | 1012 mb | Extratropical |
Other Western Pacific storms of 1979
- Typhoon AliceWestern Pacific · 1979
- Typhoon BessWestern Pacific · 1979
- Typhoon CecilWestern Pacific · 1979
- Tropical Storm DotWestern Pacific · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1979
- Typhoon EllisWestern Pacific · 1979
- Tropical Storm FayeWestern Pacific · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1979
- Super Typhoon HopeWestern Pacific · 1979
- Tropical Storm GordonWestern Pacific · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1979
- Typhoon IrvingWestern Pacific · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1979
- Super Typhoon JudyWestern Pacific · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1979
- Tropical Storm KenWestern Pacific · 1979
- Typhoon LolaWestern Pacific · 1979
- Typhoon MacWestern Pacific · 1979
- Tropical Storm NancyWestern Pacific · 1979
- Typhoon OwenWestern Pacific · 1979
- Tropical Storm PamelaWestern Pacific · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1979
- Typhoon SarahWestern Pacific · 1979
- Tropical Storm RogerWestern Pacific · 1979
- Super Typhoon TipWestern Pacific · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1979
- Super Typhoon VeraWestern Pacific · 1979
- Tropical Storm WayneWestern Pacific · 1979
- Unnamed tropical depressionWestern Pacific · 1979
- Tropical Storm BenWestern Pacific · 1979
What this means
A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.
Sources
Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.