Hurricane (Typhoon), Belau
- When
- December 2, 4:00 PM GST to December 3, 10:00 AM GST
- Where
- Belau forecast zone
- Category
- 5
- Property damage
- $10 million
- Crop damage
- $100,000
- Reported by
- NWS Storm Survey
Hurricane in Guam, December 2 to 3, 2012
After passing Chuuk on 28 November, Tropical Storm Bopha intensified into a typhoon on the afternoon of the 30th as it moved west-northwestward through southern Yap State. Late in the evening of the 30th, Bopha began to intensify rapidly, and by the morning of 1 December it was in far western Yap State with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph.
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $10 million
- Crop damage
- $100,000
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS GUM wrote it up.
After passing Chuuk on 28 November, Tropical Storm Bopha intensified into a typhoon on the afternoon of the 30th as it moved west-northwestward through southern Yap State. Late in the evening of the 30th, Bopha began to intensify rapidly, and by the morning of 1 December it was in far western Yap State with maximum sustained winds of 130 mph. Bopha continued to intensify as it headed toward Koror in the Republic of Palau, and by 1000 GST on 2 December, Bopha was a super typhoon with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph, centered about 200 miles east-southeast of Koror and moving west-northwest. But about this time, Bopha turned slightly to the west, and passed about 55 miles south of Koror at 2200 GST the evening of the 2nd with maximum winds of 155 mph. At about 2330 GST, the eye of Bopha passed 20 miles south of the southern island of Angaur. Bopha then weakened as it moved on west of Palau, and by 1000 GST on the morning of 3 December, Typhoon Bopha was 200 miles west-southwest of Koror with maximum winds of 120 mph.
As it passed Palau, Super Typhoon Bopha brought tropical storm conditions to Koror and points north on Babeldaob Island. But further south, the islands of Peleliu and Angaur experienced typhoon conditions with considerable damage.
At the Weather Service Office in Koror, the maximum sustained wind was northeast at 35 mph on the 2nd at 1856 GST, and the peak gust was from the east at 70 mph at 2354 GST. The lowest sea-level pressure was 1003.0 mb at 2052 GST. The storm total rainfall for 2-3 December was 3.32 inches. At Palau International Airport on the south end of Babeldaob, the maximum sustained wind was 40 mph from the east at 2252 GST on the 2nd and again at 0150 GST on the 3rd, and the peak gust was 59 mph at 2240 GST on the 2nd. Further south, sustained winds are estimated to have reached at least 100 mph on Peleliu, and 130 mph or more on Angaur.
On Babeldaob Island, winds resulted in power outages, communications disruptions, and some damage to buildings and agriculture. But the greatest damage on Babeldaob was along the east coast of the island, where storm surge penetrated several hundred feet inland, damaging roads and damaging or destroying approximately 30 houses. By contrast, damage on Koror was mainly light, due mostly to wind.
The southern islands of Peleliu and Angaur received the worst damage, from both wind and surge. Over 100 houses were destroyed or severely damaged, displacing over 300 people. Local agriculture and infrastructure also suffered major damage.
Throughout the Republic of Palau, no deaths or major injuries were reported as a result of Super Typhoon Bopha. About 150 houses were destroyed or severely damaged, leaving at least 350 people without homes. Total damage is estimated at $10,000,000 of property damage and about $100,000 in crop damage.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Guam wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 1, 8:29 PM UTC, 9 hours 31 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 1, 8:29 PM UTC, 9 hours 31 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TIYAN GU 629 AM CHST SUN DEC 2 2012 .SYNOPSIS... PGUA WSR-88D SHOWS SCATTERED SHOWERS OVER GUAM AND ROTA WATERS WITH ISOLATED SHOWERS OVER TINIAN AND SAIPAN WATERS. THE VAD WIND PROFILE REVEALS MODERATE 15 KNOT TRADE WINDS WITH FRESH 21 KNOT GUSTS THROUGH THE LOWEST 10 THOUSAND FEET. && .DISCUSSION... THE OUTERMOST RAIN BAND OF DISTANT TYPHOON BOPHA WILL CAUSE SCATTERED SHOWERS...MAINLY IN GUAM AND ROTA WATERS...THIS MORNING. OTHERWISE...THE MARIANAS REMAIN IN ESSENTIALLY A DRY SEASON PATTERN WITH A SHEAR LINE JUST TO THE EAST. BOTH THE GFS40 AND THE ECMWF-HIRES SHOW ABOUT AN INCH OF RAIN OVER THE NEXT 10 DAYS. && .TROPICAL SYSTEMS... TYPHOON BOPHA CONTINUES TO INTENSIFY...AND IS NOW EXPECTED TO BECOME A SUPER TYPHOON. BOPHA CONTINUES TO HEAD EXACTLY FOR...OR JUST SOUTH OF KOROR PALAU. THIS WILL EXPOSE MOST OF KOROR TO THE RIGHT FRONT QUADRANT...OFTEN THE MOST DAMAGING. DAMAGING WINDS SHOULD START IN ABOUT 12 HOURS...AT 6 PM CHST. DAMAGE IS EXPECTED TO BE QUITE EXTENSIVE. && .EASTERN MICRONESIA... SHOWERS ARE DECREASING OVER MOST OF THE REGION AS TRADE-WIND CONVERGENCE WEAKENS. WEAK TRADE-WIND DISTURBANCE APPROACHING POHNPEI WILL BRING A FEW SHOWERS AND POSSIBLE TSTMS TO THE AREA TODAY. HOWEVER...SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS ONLY ISOLATED SHOWER COVERAGE AT THE MOMENT WITH NO MAJOR CONVECTION DEVELOPING UPSTREAM SO LEFT ISOLATED WORDING IN THE FORECAST TODAY FOR POHNPEI. MODELS SHOW SOMEWHAT OF A WETTER PATTERN RETURNING BY LATE IN THE WEEK ACROSS EASTERN MICRONESIA AS TRADE-WIND CONVERGENCE INCREASES. UNTIL THEN...EXPECT MOSTLY DRY CONDITIONS FOR KOSRAE AND MAJURO. && .WESTERN MICRONESIA... MADE MINOR TWEAKS TO WINDS AND SEAS TO KOROR FORECAST AS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TYPHOON BOPHA APPROACHES. FORECAST CERTAINTY IS BECOMING HIGHER FOR BOPHA TO TRACK JUST TO THE SOUTH OF OR DIRECTLY OVER SOUTHERN BABELDAOB ISLAND IN KOROR. LATEST WARNING FROM JTWC HAS BOPHA AS A SUPER TYPHOON AT 130 KT AS IT NEARS KOROR. IN ANY CASE...IT WILL BE QUITE DEVASTATING FOR KOROR. PERFORMED MANUAL SWELL CALCULATION WITH A DYNAMIC FETCH OF BOPHA AND OBTAINED 18 FT ARRIVING SWELL AT 19 SEC. THIS WAS DONE ASSUMING A 50 NM FETCH WIDTH...600 NM DYNAMIC FETCH LENGTH AND AN AVERAGE WIND SPEED OF 50 KT. COMBINED WITH WIND WAVES...ADJUSTED SEAS UPWARDS. FOR YAP...TS FORCE WIND GUSTS ARE POSSIBLE IN HEAVIER SHOWERS WITH THE WORST WEATHER AND SEA CONDITIONS EXPECTED TODAY. CONDITIONS SHOULD IMPROVE BEGINNING TONIGHT AS BOPHA CLOSES IN ON KOROR. TRENDED SEA HEIGHTS DOWNWARD A BIT FASTER FOR YAP WITH 6 TO 7 SEAS ANTICIPATED BY WEDNESDAY. HIGH SURF ADVISORY CONTINUES FOR YAP WITH HAZARDOUS SURF EXPECTED TO LAST THROUGH AT LEAST MONDAY. FOR CHUUK...THE TRADE-WIND DISTURBANCE NEARING POHNPEI WILL BRING SCATTERED SHOWERS TO CHUUK MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT BEFORE DRYING OUT FOR THE END OF THE WEEK. && .GUM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GU...NONE. MARIANAS WATERS...NONE. && STANKO/WILLIAMS
Event by event
1 hurricane (typhoon). Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Hurricane (Typhoon)
- A tropical cyclone with sustained winds of 64 knots (74 mph) or more, filed per forecast zone for its wind, and with separate events for its flooding, surge and tornadoes.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flooding and Debris Flows in California, December 2 to 5, 2012
- Dense Fog in Minnesota, December 2, 2012
- High Wind in Wyoming, December 2 to 3, 2012
- Dense Fog in Wisconsin, December 2 to 3, 2012
- Dense Fog in Virginia, December 2, 2012
- Debris Flows and Flood in California, December 2, 2012
- Flooding in Oregon, December 2 to 6, 2012
- Flooding and Dense Fog in California, December 2 to 4, 2012
- High Wind in Wyoming, December 2, 2012
- High Wind in Montana, December 2, 2012
- High Wind in Wyoming, December 2, 2012
- Dense Fog in West Virginia, December 2, 2012
More
Every storm in Guam in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Guam, December 2012The 2012 hurricane season
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 426987.