The 1979 season

Typhoon Cecil (1979)

Typhoon Cecil reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between April 8, 1979 and April 21, 1979, with a lowest pressure of 965 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Cecil, 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
April 8, 1979 to April 21, 1979
Peak strength
Category 1, 80 kt (92 mph)
Lowest pressure
965 mb (28.50 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
10.3
Identifier
WP031979

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
Apr 8, 00:003.3N 143.6E15 ktTropical storm
Apr 8, 06:003.4N 143.4E15 ktTropical storm
Apr 8, 12:003.6N 143.3E15 ktTropical storm
Apr 8, 18:003.8N 143.1E15 ktTropical storm
Apr 9, 00:004.2N 142.8E15 ktTropical storm
Apr 9, 06:004.6N 142.5E15 ktTropical storm
Apr 9, 12:005.1N 142.2E15 ktTropical storm
Apr 9, 18:005.5N 141.9E20 ktTropical storm
Apr 10, 00:005.7N 141.5E20 ktMixed
Apr 10, 06:005.9N 141.1E20 ktTropical storm
Apr 10, 12:006.1N 140.6E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 10, 18:006.2N 140.2E25 ktTropical storm
Apr 11, 00:006.4N 139.5E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 06:006.5N 139.0E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 12:006.7N 138.4E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Apr 11, 18:006.9N 137.8E30 kt996 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 00:007.0N 137.3E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 06:006.8N 136.7E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 12:007.0N 136.0E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Apr 12, 18:007.2N 135.5E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 00:007.5N 134.8E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 06:007.7N 134.2E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 12:008.0N 133.4E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 13, 18:008.2N 132.6E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 00:008.3N 131.6E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 06:008.4N 130.4E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 12:008.5N 129.3E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Apr 14, 18:008.9N 128.4E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Apr 15, 00:009.4N 127.5E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Apr 15, 06:0010.1N 126.5E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Apr 15, 12:0010.8N 125.4E80 kt965 mbTropical storm
Apr 15, 18:0011.5N 124.4E75 kt975 mbTropical storm
Apr 16, 00:0012.0N 123.2E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Apr 16, 06:0012.4N 122.6E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Apr 16, 12:0012.7N 122.2E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Apr 16, 18:0012.9N 122.1E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Apr 17, 00:0013.1N 122.1E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Apr 17, 06:0013.5N 122.3E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Apr 17, 12:0013.9N 122.5E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Apr 17, 18:0014.3N 122.8E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Apr 18, 00:0014.6N 123.1E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 18, 06:0015.0N 123.6E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 18, 12:0015.6N 124.0E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 18, 18:0016.3N 124.4E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 19, 00:0016.9N 125.0E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 19, 06:0017.5N 125.8E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Apr 19, 12:0018.2N 127.0E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 19, 18:0019.6N 127.8E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 20, 00:0021.0N 129.1E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Apr 20, 06:0022.1N 130.6E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Apr 20, 12:0022.8N 132.4E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Apr 20, 18:0023.0N 134.4E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Apr 21, 00:0023.0N 136.6E25 kt1002 mbMixed
Apr 21, 06:0023.0N 138.0E1006 mbExtratropical
Apr 21, 12:0023.5N 140.8E1010 mbExtratropical

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.