The 1979 season

Super Typhoon Tip (1979)

Super Typhoon Tip reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between October 2, 1979 and October 22, 1979, with a lowest pressure of 870 mb, and made landfall.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Super Typhoon Tip. Open it to see storms, cones and warnings on the map.

Open the live radar with storms, cones and warnings

Radar mosaic and map layers from NOAA MRMS. Boundaries from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet.

The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
October 2, 1979 to October 22, 1979
Peak strength
Category 5, 165 kt (190 mph)
Lowest pressure
870 mb (25.69 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
57.1
Fastest the center moved
55 kt (63 mph)
Identifier
WP231979

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
Oct 2, 06:005.5N 158.7ETropical storm
Oct 2, 12:005.4N 158.7ETropical storm
Oct 2, 18:005.4N 158.4ETropical storm
Oct 3, 00:005.5N 157.8ETropical storm
Oct 3, 06:005.7N 156.7ETropical storm
Oct 3, 12:005.9N 155.5ETropical storm
Oct 3, 18:006.2N 154.7ETropical storm
Oct 4, 00:006.3N 154.1E20 ktTropical storm
Oct 4, 06:006.3N 153.0E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 12:005.7N 153.3E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 4, 18:005.4N 153.9E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 00:005.4N 154.5E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 06:005.7N 155.2E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 12:006.5N 154.6E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 5, 18:007.1N 153.6E30 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 00:007.3N 153.3E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 06:007.5N 153.1E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 12:007.7N 152.9E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 6, 18:007.9N 152.6E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 00:007.7N 152.3E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 06:007.0N 152.4E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 12:006.6N 151.9E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 7, 18:006.8N 152.1E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 00:007.8N 151.9E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 06:008.9N 151.4E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 12:009.8N 150.6E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Oct 8, 18:0011.0N 149.5E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 00:0012.2N 147.8E50 kt990 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 06:0012.7N 145.8E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 12:0012.8N 144.3E60 kt975 mbTropical storm
Oct 9, 18:0012.9N 143.4E75 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 00:0013.1N 142.5E80 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 06:0013.5N 141.7E85 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 12:0013.7N 141.1E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 10, 18:0013.9N 140.3E115 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 00:0014.2N 139.5E130 kt900 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 06:0014.5N 139.4E140 kt900 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 12:0015.1N 139.2E140 kt900 mbTropical storm
Oct 11, 18:0015.7N 138.9E150 kt895 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 00:0016.3N 138.3E160 kt875 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 06:0016.8N 137.7E165 kt870 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 12:0016.9N 137.2E165 kt890 mbTropical storm
Oct 12, 18:0016.8N 136.9E155 kt900 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 00:0016.7N 136.2E145 kt905 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 06:0016.7N 135.7E130 kt905 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 12:0016.7N 135.3E125 kt910 mbTropical storm
Oct 13, 18:0016.8N 134.8E125 kt915 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 00:0017.0N 134.0E125 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 06:0017.1N 133.5E125 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 12:0017.3N 132.5E125 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 14, 18:0017.6N 131.8E125 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 00:0018.1N 130.9E125 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 06:0018.4N 130.4E125 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 12:0018.6N 129.8E125 kt920 mbTropical storm
Oct 15, 18:0018.9N 129.5E120 kt925 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 00:0019.4N 129.1E120 kt925 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 06:0019.9N 128.9E110 kt925 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 12:0020.5N 128.6E110 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 16, 18:0020.8N 128.4E105 kt930 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 00:0021.5N 128.1E100 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 06:0022.4N 127.9E95 kt935 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 12:0023.0N 127.8E95 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 17, 18:0024.0N 127.6E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 00:0025.1N 127.8E90 kt945 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 06:0026.5N 128.6E85 kt950 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 12:0028.4N 130.1E75 kt955 mbTropical storm
Oct 18, 18:0030.3N 131.6E75 kt960 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 00:0033.0N 134.3E70 kt965 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 06:0036.2N 138.6E60 kt968 mbTropical storm
Oct 19, 12:0041.5N 145.2E50 kt965 mbMixed
Oct 19, 18:0043.1N 146.1E50 kt956 mbMixed
Oct 20, 00:0046.2N 148.3E952 mbExtratropical
Oct 20, 06:0047.3N 150.8E950 mbExtratropical
Oct 20, 12:0048.5N 154.0E952 mbExtratropical
Oct 20, 18:0050.0N 158.0E956 mbExtratropical
Oct 21, 00:0052.0N 162.0E964 mbExtratropical
Oct 21, 06:0053.0N 166.0E970 mbExtratropical
Oct 21, 12:0054.0N 170.0E976 mbExtratropical
Oct 21, 18:0054.0N 175.0E982 mbExtratropical
Oct 22, 00:0054.0N 180.0E988 mbExtratropical
Oct 22, 06:0053.0N 187.0EExtratropical

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.