The 1980 season

Typhoon Percy (1980)

Typhoon Percy reached Category 4 in the Western Pacific between September 13, 1980 and September 19, 1980, with a lowest pressure of 915 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Typhoon Percy, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1980 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 13, 1980 to September 19, 1980
Peak strength
Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)
Lowest pressure
915 mb (27.02 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
12.2
Identifier
WP191980

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 13, 06:0017.2N 132.7E1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 12:0016.4N 131.5E30 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 13, 18:0017.1N 131.3E35 kt998 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 00:0017.7N 131.5E40 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 06:0018.7N 131.3E40 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 12:0018.7N 130.0E45 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 14, 18:0018.8N 128.8E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 00:0019.3N 128.1E45 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 06:0019.2N 127.2E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 12:0018.8N 126.7E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Sep 15, 18:0018.4N 126.6E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 00:0018.8N 126.5E65 kt975 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 06:0019.1N 126.1E70 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 12:0019.5N 125.9E75 kt970 mbTropical storm
Sep 16, 18:0020.0N 125.1E85 kt965 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 00:0019.9N 124.7E95 kt950 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 06:0020.6N 124.1E110 kt945 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 12:0020.7N 123.1E125 kt915 mbTropical storm
Sep 17, 18:0021.3N 122.2E120 kt915 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 00:0021.8N 121.1E115 kt920 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 06:0022.5N 119.4E90 kt940 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 12:0022.8N 118.5E70 kt960 mbTropical storm
Sep 18, 18:0023.3N 117.8E55 kt980 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 00:0024.2N 116.8E35 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 06:0024.9N 115.8E30 kt1004 mbTropical storm
Sep 19, 12:0025.7N 114.9E20 ktMixed

Other Western Pacific storms of 1980

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.