The 1979 season

Super Typhoon Hope (1979)

Super Typhoon Hope reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between July 24, 1979 and August 10, 1979, with a lowest pressure of 900 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Super Typhoon Hope, 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
July 24, 1979 to August 10, 1979
Peak strength
Category 4, 130 kt (150 mph)
Lowest pressure
900 mb (26.58 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
19.0
Fastest the center moved
22 kt (25 mph)
Identifier
WP091979

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
Jul 24, 06:0010.2N 147.8E20 ktTropical storm
Jul 24, 12:0010.3N 146.9E20 ktTropical storm
Jul 24, 18:0010.3N 146.2E20 ktTropical storm
Jul 25, 00:0010.4N 145.5E20 ktMixed
Jul 25, 06:0010.7N 144.8E25 ktMixed
Jul 25, 12:0010.9N 144.0E25 kt1006 mbMixed
Jul 25, 18:0011.1N 143.3E25 kt1002 mbMixed
Jul 26, 00:0011.2N 142.4E20 kt1002 mbMixed
Jul 26, 06:0011.5N 141.6E20 kt1002 mbMixed
Jul 26, 12:0011.8N 140.7E20 kt1002 mbMixed
Jul 26, 18:0012.3N 139.8E15 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 00:0013.2N 140.3E15 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 06:0014.2N 140.3E15 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 12:0015.0N 139.6E20 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 18:0015.4N 138.6E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 28, 00:0016.1N 137.8E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Jul 28, 06:0016.8N 137.5E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Jul 28, 12:0017.2N 136.9E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Jul 28, 18:0017.1N 136.2E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Jul 29, 00:0016.7N 135.7E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Jul 29, 06:0016.6N 135.4E50 kt975 mbTropical storm
Jul 29, 12:0016.5N 134.8E65 kt970 mbTropical storm
Jul 29, 18:0016.7N 134.2E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 00:0016.8N 133.5E75 kt955 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 06:0017.1N 132.7E80 kt950 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 12:0017.4N 131.8E85 kt940 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 18:0018.0N 130.6E90 kt935 mbTropical storm
Jul 31, 00:0018.6N 129.4E100 kt920 mbTropical storm
Jul 31, 06:0019.3N 127.8E115 kt905 mbTropical storm
Jul 31, 12:0019.6N 126.2E130 kt900 mbTropical storm
Jul 31, 18:0020.1N 124.7E130 kt900 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 00:0020.6N 123.2E130 kt905 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 06:0020.8N 121.6E125 kt915 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 12:0021.5N 120.1E120 kt925 mbTropical storm
Aug 1, 18:0021.7N 118.2E115 kt930 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 00:0022.2N 116.4E105 kt940 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 06:0022.5N 113.9E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 12:0022.7N 111.7E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Aug 2, 18:0022.6N 109.6E50 kt975 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 00:0022.2N 107.5E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 06:0021.7N 105.4E30 kt994 mbTropical storm
Aug 3, 12:0021.1N 103.1E20 kt994 mbMixed
Aug 3, 18:0020.8N 101.7E20 kt996 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 00:0020.7N 100.4E20 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 06:0020.7N 99.2E20 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Aug 4, 12:0020.7N 97.9E15 ktTropical storm
Aug 4, 18:0020.9N 96.7E10 ktTropical storm
Aug 5, 00:0021.2N 95.4E10 ktTropical storm
Aug 5, 06:0021.5N 94.5E15 ktTropical storm
Aug 5, 12:0021.7N 93.5E15 ktTropical storm
Aug 5, 18:0022.2N 92.7E20 ktTropical storm
Aug 6, 00:0022.3N 92.0E20 ktTropical storm
Aug 6, 06:0022.3N 91.4E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 6, 12:0022.2N 90.8E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 6, 18:0021.8N 90.3E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 7, 00:0021.7N 89.7E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 7, 06:0021.7N 89.0E30 ktTropical storm
Aug 7, 12:0021.8N 88.3E35 ktTropical storm
Aug 7, 18:0022.2N 87.2E30 ktTropical storm
Aug 8, 00:0022.4N 86.4E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 8, 06:0022.5N 85.5E25 ktTropical storm
Aug 8, 12:0022.5N 84.6E20 ktMixed
Aug 8, 18:0022.8N 83.1ETropical storm
Aug 9, 00:0023.0N 82.0ETropical storm
Aug 9, 06:0023.3N 80.9ETropical storm
Aug 9, 12:0023.5N 79.8ETropical storm
Aug 9, 18:0023.8N 78.8ETropical storm
Aug 10, 00:0024.0N 77.9ETropical storm
Aug 10, 06:0024.2N 77.2ETropical storm

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.