The 1979 season

Typhoon Mac (1979)

Typhoon Mac reached Category 1 in the Western Pacific between September 11, 1979 and September 25, 1979, with a lowest pressure of 985 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Mac, 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
September 11, 1979 to September 25, 1979
Peak strength
Category 1, 70 kt (81 mph)
Lowest pressure
985 mb (29.09 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
6.3
Identifier
WP171979

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
Sep 11, 00:0010.1N 140.2ETropical storm
Sep 11, 06:0010.5N 140.3ETropical storm
Sep 11, 12:0010.9N 140.3ETropical storm
Sep 11, 18:0011.3N 140.6EMixed
Sep 12, 00:0011.7N 140.5E1008 mbMixed
Sep 12, 06:0011.9N 140.0E1008 mbMixed
Sep 12, 12:0012.1N 139.4E1008 mbMixed
Sep 12, 18:0012.1N 138.9E1008 mbMixed
Sep 13, 00:0012.0N 139.0E15 kt1008 mbMixed
Sep 13, 06:0012.0N 138.8E15 kt1008 mbMixed
Sep 13, 12:0011.9N 137.8E15 kt1008 mbMixed
Sep 13, 18:0011.9N 137.3E15 kt1008 mbMixed
Sep 14, 00:0011.8N 136.6E15 kt1008 mbMixed
Sep 14, 06:0011.8N 135.7E15 kt1006 mbMixed
Sep 14, 12:0011.8N 134.8E15 kt1006 mbMixed
Sep 14, 18:0012.0N 133.8E15 kt1006 mbMixed
Sep 15, 00:0012.3N 133.0E15 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 15, 06:0012.7N 131.8E15 kt1004 mbMixed
Sep 15, 12:0012.9N 131.0E20 kt1002 mbMixed
Sep 15, 18:0013.2N 130.0E30 kt1000 mbMixed
Sep 16, 00:0013.5N 129.0E40 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 06:0013.7N 127.9E55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 12:0013.7N 127.3E60 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 18:0013.7N 126.7E65 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 00:0013.7N 126.2E70 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 06:0013.7N 125.7E70 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 12:0013.8N 125.2E65 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 18:0013.8N 124.5E55 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 00:0013.8N 123.9E50 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 06:0013.6N 123.3E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 12:0013.6N 122.7E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 18:0013.7N 122.1E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 00:0013.9N 121.4E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 06:0014.3N 120.6E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 12:0014.8N 120.2E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 18:0015.5N 119.8E35 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 00:0016.1N 119.1E40 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 06:0017.1N 118.8E40 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 12:0017.6N 118.6E35 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 20, 18:0017.9N 118.3E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 00:0018.4N 118.1E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 06:0019.0N 117.9E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 12:0019.5N 117.5E40 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 18:0020.1N 116.9E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 00:0020.5N 116.4E40 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 06:0020.8N 116.0E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 12:0020.9N 115.6E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 18:0021.2N 115.0E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 00:0021.5N 114.4E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 06:0021.8N 114.0E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 12:0022.0N 113.0E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 18:0022.3N 113.5E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 00:0022.5N 112.9E25 kt1000 mbMixed
Sep 24, 06:0022.3N 112.8E1002 mbMixed
Sep 24, 12:0022.0N 113.3E1004 mbMixed
Sep 24, 18:0022.7N 113.9EDisturbance
Sep 25, 00:0022.6N 114.4EDisturbance
Sep 25, 06:0022.3N 114.8EDisturbance

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.