Typhoon Tip Record Low Pressure

Date: October 12, 1979 • Location: Tokyo, Japan

Typhoon Tip, the largest and most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded, reached a worldwide record-low sea-level pressure of 870 mbar (25.69 inHg) in the western Pacific Ocean. Typhoon Tip, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Warling, was the largest and most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded worldwide. The forty-third tropical depression, nineteenth tropical storm, twelfth typhoon, and third super typhoon of the 1979 Pacific typhoon season, Tip developed out of a disturbance within the monsoon trough on October 4 near Pohnpei in Micronesia. Initially, Tropical Storm Roger to the northwest hindered the development and motion of the system, although after the storm tracked farther north, Tip was able to intensify due to more favorable conditions within the region. After passing Guam, Tip rapidly intensified and reached peak sustained winds of 305 km/h (190 mph) and a worldwide record-low sea-level pressure of 870 hPa (25.69 inHg) on October 12. At its peak, Tip was the largest tropical cyclone on record, with a windfield diameter of 2,220 km (1,380 mi). The typhoon briefly entered the area of warning responsibility for PAGASA on October 13, which gave it the Filipino name Warling.