The 1979 season

Typhoon Sarah (1979)

Typhoon Sarah reached Category 3 in the Western Pacific between September 28, 1979 and October 17, 1979, with a lowest pressure of 930 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Sarah, 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 28, 1979 to October 17, 1979
Peak strength
Category 3, 110 kt (127 mph)
Lowest pressure
930 mb (27.46 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
20.9
Identifier
WP221979

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 28, 00:0013.2N 113.1ETropical storm
Sep 28, 06:0013.5N 113.9ETropical storm
Sep 28, 12:0013.7N 114.7ETropical storm
Sep 28, 18:0013.9N 115.4ETropical storm
Sep 29, 00:0014.0N 116.0ETropical storm
Sep 29, 06:0014.2N 116.4ETropical storm
Sep 29, 12:0014.3N 116.8ETropical storm
Sep 29, 18:0014.4N 117.1ETropical storm
Sep 30, 00:0014.5N 117.5ETropical storm
Sep 30, 06:0014.6N 118.2ETropical storm
Sep 30, 12:0014.6N 119.0E15 ktTropical storm
Sep 30, 18:0014.6N 119.4E15 ktMixed
Oct 1, 00:0014.5N 119.8E15 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 1, 06:0014.5N 120.2E15 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 1, 12:0014.5N 120.6E15 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 1, 18:0014.5N 120.8E15 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 00:0014.7N 121.0E15 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 06:0014.8N 121.1E15 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 12:0014.9N 121.2E15 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 2, 18:0015.2N 121.2E15 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 00:0015.2N 120.8E15 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 06:0015.0N 120.6E15 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 12:0014.8N 120.3E15 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 3, 18:0014.6N 120.0E20 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 00:0014.4N 119.7E20 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 06:0014.2N 119.5E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 12:0013.8N 119.1E30 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 18:0013.5N 118.8E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 00:0013.0N 118.8E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 06:0012.7N 119.0E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 12:0012.5N 119.3E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 18:0012.5N 119.5E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 00:0012.5N 119.7E40 kt994 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 06:0012.4N 119.7E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 12:0012.3N 119.6E45 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 18:0012.2N 119.5E50 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 00:0012.2N 119.4E60 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 06:0012.1N 119.2E75 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 12:0011.9N 119.2E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 18:0011.6N 119.2E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 00:0011.3N 119.2E75 kt985 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 06:0011.0N 119.2E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 12:0010.8N 119.1E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 18:0011.0N 118.8E75 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 00:0011.1N 118.4E85 kt970 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 06:0011.3N 117.8E90 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 12:0011.3N 117.4E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 18:0011.4N 117.1E95 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 00:0011.5N 116.7E110 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 06:0011.6N 116.3E110 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 12:0011.7N 116.0E100 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 18:0011.8N 115.8E100 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 00:0011.9N 115.5E100 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 06:0012.1N 115.1E90 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 12:0012.2N 114.8E85 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 18:0012.4N 114.5E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 00:0012.8N 114.1E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 06:0012.9N 113.8E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 12:0013.1N 113.3E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 18:0013.2N 112.9E65 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 00:0013.3N 112.6E60 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 06:0013.4N 112.1E60 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 12:0013.4N 111.7E60 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 18:0013.4N 111.1E60 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 00:0013.4N 110.6E55 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 06:0013.3N 110.0E50 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 12:0013.3N 109.6E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 18:0013.2N 109.1E35 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 00:0013.1N 108.7E20 kt998 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 06:0012.9N 108.7E1000 mbMixed
Oct 15, 12:0012.8N 108.3E1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 18:0012.4N 108.1E1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 00:0012.1N 108.0E1006 mbMixed
Oct 16, 06:0011.7N 108.4E1006 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 12:0011.2N 109.0E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 18:0011.6N 109.0E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 00:0011.0N 108.0E1008 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 06:0010.7N 107.2E1008 mbTropical 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.