The 1979 season

Typhoon Owen (1979)

Typhoon Owen reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between September 19, 1979 and October 3, 1979, with a lowest pressure of 920 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Owen, 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 19, 1979 to October 3, 1979
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
920 mb (27.17 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
18.7
Fastest the center moved
48 kt (55 mph)
Identifier
WP191979

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 19, 00:0014.5N 149.0ETropical storm
Sep 19, 06:0013.6N 148.2ETropical storm
Sep 19, 12:0013.0N 147.5ETropical storm
Sep 19, 18:0012.9N 146.8ETropical storm
Sep 20, 00:0012.9N 146.0ETropical storm
Sep 20, 06:0012.4N 144.7ETropical storm
Sep 20, 12:0012.0N 143.5ETropical storm
Sep 20, 18:0011.9N 143.0ETropical storm
Sep 21, 00:0012.0N 142.5ETropical storm
Sep 21, 06:0012.1N 141.5ETropical storm
Sep 21, 12:0012.2N 140.4E1006 mbTropical storm
Sep 21, 18:0012.3N 139.5E1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 00:0012.6N 138.9E20 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 06:0012.5N 138.3E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 12:0012.1N 137.7E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 22, 18:0012.1N 137.2E25 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 00:0012.6N 136.9E25 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 06:0013.3N 136.6E30 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 12:0013.9N 136.2E35 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 23, 18:0015.0N 135.8E45 kt994 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 00:0016.1N 135.3E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 06:0017.7N 134.3E55 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 12:0019.0N 133.2E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 24, 18:0020.1N 132.1E60 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 00:0021.0N 130.7E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 06:0021.3N 130.3E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 12:0022.0N 129.8E80 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 18:0022.6N 129.5E100 kt930 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 00:0023.1N 129.1E110 kt920 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 06:0023.5N 129.2E110 kt920 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 12:0023.8N 129.3E110 kt925 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 18:0024.4N 129.4E105 kt935 mbTropical storm
Sep 27, 00:0024.9N 129.6E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Sep 27, 06:0025.5N 129.7E95 kt945 mbTropical storm
Sep 27, 12:0026.0N 129.8E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 27, 18:0026.5N 129.8E85 kt945 mbTropical storm
Sep 28, 00:0027.0N 129.8E85 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 28, 06:0027.3N 129.8E80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 28, 12:0027.6N 129.8E75 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 28, 18:0027.8N 129.8E75 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 29, 00:0028.1N 129.9E75 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 29, 06:0028.5N 130.1E75 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 29, 12:0029.1N 130.3E75 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 29, 18:0029.8N 130.6E75 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 30, 00:0030.8N 131.5E70 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 30, 06:0032.4N 133.1E65 kt955 mbTropical storm
Sep 30, 12:0034.1N 135.1E55 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 30, 18:0036.2N 138.1E45 kt984 mbTropical storm
Oct 1, 00:0039.8N 141.9E35 kt978 mbMixed
Oct 1, 06:0043.3N 145.4E975 mbExtratropical
Oct 1, 12:0045.0N 148.9E976 mbExtratropical
Oct 1, 18:0046.2N 151.9E976 mbExtratropical
Oct 2, 00:0047.1N 156.1E976 mbExtratropical
Oct 2, 06:0047.2N 160.0E976 mbExtratropical
Oct 2, 12:0047.0N 164.0E976 mbExtratropical
Oct 2, 18:0047.0N 168.6E976 mbExtratropical
Oct 3, 00:0046.9N 174.0E972 mbExtratropical
Oct 3, 06:0047.0N 178.0E964 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.