The 1979 season

Typhoon Alice (1979)

Typhoon Alice reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between December 27, 1978 and January 15, 1979, with a lowest pressure of 930 mb.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Alice, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1979 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
December 27, 1978 to January 15, 1979
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
930 mb (27.46 inHg)
Landfall
No; closest approach 921 km (572 mi)
Accumulated cyclone energy
27.8
Fastest the center moved
15 kt (17 mph)
Identifier
WP011979

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)PositionWindPressureStatus
Dec 27, 06:001.5N 179.7ETropical storm
Dec 27, 12:001.5N 179.4ETropical storm
Dec 27, 18:001.5N 179.0ETropical storm
Dec 28, 00:001.5N 178.5ETropical storm
Dec 28, 06:001.5N 178.0ETropical storm
Dec 28, 12:001.5N 177.5ETropical storm
Dec 28, 18:001.5N 177.1ETropical storm
Dec 29, 00:001.5N 176.7ETropical storm
Dec 29, 06:001.5N 176.1ETropical storm
Dec 29, 12:001.5N 175.6ETropical storm
Dec 29, 18:001.5N 175.3ETropical storm
Dec 30, 00:001.5N 175.0ETropical storm
Dec 30, 06:001.5N 174.5ETropical storm
Dec 30, 12:001.5N 174.0ETropical storm
Dec 30, 18:001.6N 173.5ETropical storm
Dec 31, 00:001.8N 172.9ETropical storm
Dec 31, 06:002.0N 172.5ETropical storm
Dec 31, 12:002.1N 172.0E1004 mbTropical storm
Dec 31, 18:002.3N 171.4E1002 mbTropical storm
Jan 1, 00:002.5N 170.7E20 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 1, 06:003.1N 170.1E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 1, 12:003.9N 169.6E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jan 1, 18:004.6N 169.2E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Jan 2, 00:005.2N 168.7E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jan 2, 06:005.7N 168.2E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 2, 12:006.2N 167.8E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 2, 18:006.7N 167.7E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 3, 00:007.2N 168.0E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 3, 06:008.0N 168.3E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 3, 12:008.5N 168.2E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 3, 18:008.9N 168.1E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 00:009.2N 168.0E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 06:009.4N 167.8E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 12:009.5N 166.8E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 4, 18:009.5N 166.0E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 00:009.5N 165.1E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 06:009.7N 164.4E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 12:0010.0N 163.6E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 5, 18:0010.6N 162.7E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 6, 00:0011.1N 161.7E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jan 6, 06:0011.6N 160.6E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jan 6, 12:0012.0N 159.4E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 6, 18:0012.2N 158.6E85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 00:0012.3N 157.8E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 06:0012.3N 156.6E95 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 12:0012.3N 155.5E100 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jan 7, 18:0012.2N 154.4E105 kt930 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 00:0012.1N 153.0E110 kt930 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 06:0012.0N 151.5E100 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 12:0012.0N 150.2E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jan 8, 18:0011.9N 149.0E85 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 00:0011.9N 147.9E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 06:0012.1N 146.6E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 12:0012.1N 145.4E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 9, 18:0012.0N 144.2E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 00:0011.8N 143.0E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 06:0012.1N 141.7E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 12:0012.2N 140.6E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 10, 18:0012.2N 139.8E85 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 00:0012.4N 138.9E90 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 06:0012.7N 138.3E95 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 12:0013.1N 137.8E95 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jan 11, 18:0013.4N 137.6E100 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 00:0013.7N 137.3E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 06:0014.1N 137.0E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 12:0014.5N 136.6E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 12, 18:0015.0N 136.5E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 00:0015.4N 136.6E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 06:0015.8N 136.9E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 12:0016.1N 137.3E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jan 13, 18:0016.1N 137.0E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jan 14, 00:0016.1N 136.5E30 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jan 14, 06:0016.0N 136.0E20 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jan 14, 12:0016.4N 135.2E1000 mbMixed
Jan 14, 18:0016.8N 134.3E1004 mbTropical storm
Jan 15, 00:0016.7N 133.0E1012 mbMixed
Jan 15, 06:0017.2N 132.3EDisturbance

Other Western Pacific storms of 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.