The 1979 season

Super Typhoon Vera (1979)

Super Typhoon Vera reached Category 5 in the Western Pacific between October 27, 1979 and November 10, 1979, with a lowest pressure of 915 mb, and made landfall.

Radar

Reflectivity now over Super Typhoon Vera. 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 27, 1979 to November 10, 1979
Peak strength
Category 5, 140 kt (161 mph)
Lowest pressure
915 mb (27.02 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
20.8
Identifier
WP241979

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 27, 00:004.1N 165.9ETropical storm
Oct 27, 06:004.3N 164.7ETropical storm
Oct 27, 12:004.5N 163.5ETropical storm
Oct 27, 18:004.7N 162.5ETropical storm
Oct 28, 00:004.8N 161.5ETropical storm
Oct 28, 06:004.9N 160.3ETropical storm
Oct 28, 12:005.0N 159.2ETropical storm
Oct 28, 18:005.1N 158.3ETropical storm
Oct 29, 00:005.2N 157.5ETropical storm
Oct 29, 06:005.3N 156.7ETropical storm
Oct 29, 12:005.5N 156.0ETropical storm
Oct 29, 18:005.7N 155.2ETropical storm
Oct 30, 00:005.8N 154.4ETropical storm
Oct 30, 06:005.9N 153.7ETropical storm
Oct 30, 12:005.9N 153.0ETropical storm
Oct 30, 18:006.0N 152.1ETropical storm
Oct 31, 00:006.0N 151.2ETropical storm
Oct 31, 06:006.0N 150.6ETropical storm
Oct 31, 12:006.0N 149.9ETropical storm
Oct 31, 18:006.0N 148.9ETropical storm
Nov 1, 00:005.9N 148.2ETropical storm
Nov 1, 06:006.1N 147.7ETropical storm
Nov 1, 12:006.5N 147.4E1006 mbTropical storm
Nov 1, 18:006.7N 146.9E1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 00:007.0N 145.8E25 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 06:007.4N 144.7E55 kt994 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 12:007.2N 143.5E60 kt985 mbTropical storm
Nov 2, 18:007.6N 142.2E60 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 00:008.0N 140.9E65 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 06:008.6N 139.0E70 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 12:009.2N 137.1E95 kt975 mbTropical storm
Nov 3, 18:0010.0N 135.1E130 kt955 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 00:0010.5N 133.0E135 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 06:0011.1N 131.0E140 kt930 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 12:0011.6N 129.2E140 kt920 mbTropical storm
Nov 4, 18:0012.0N 127.7E135 kt915 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 00:0012.7N 125.9E135 kt920 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 06:0013.4N 124.9E135 kt920 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 12:0014.3N 124.1E115 kt930 mbTropical storm
Nov 5, 18:0014.8N 123.5E95 kt935 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 00:0015.5N 122.7E95 kt940 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 06:0016.3N 122.3E90 kt950 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 12:0017.0N 122.2E80 kt960 mbTropical storm
Nov 6, 18:0017.6N 121.7E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 00:0017.8N 121.2E40 kt990 mbMixed
Nov 7, 06:0018.3N 120.2E35 kt996 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 12:0017.0N 117.9E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 7, 18:0017.2N 118.4E1000 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 00:0017.4N 117.9E1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 06:0017.4N 116.8E1004 mbTropical storm
Nov 8, 12:0017.2N 115.8ETropical storm
Nov 8, 18:0016.8N 115.0ETropical storm
Nov 9, 00:0016.4N 114.3ETropical storm
Nov 9, 06:0016.1N 113.8ETropical storm
Nov 9, 12:0015.7N 113.5ETropical storm
Nov 9, 18:0015.3N 113.3EDisturbance
Nov 10, 00:0014.9N 113.2EDisturbance
Nov 10, 06:0014.1N 113.4EDisturbance
Nov 10, 12:0013.5N 114.0EDisturbance

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.