# 1968 Pacific typhoon season

The 1968 Pacific typhoon season has no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1968, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between June and December. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.
The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean, north of the equator and west of the International Date Line. Storms that form east of the date line and north of the equator are called hurricanes; see 1968 Pacific hurricane season. Tropical Storms formed in the entire west pacific basin were assigned a name by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Tropical depressions in this basin have the "W" suffix added to their number. Tropical depressions that enter or form in the Philippine area of responsibility are assigned a name by the Philippine Weather Bureau, the predecessor of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). This can often result in the same storm having two names.

## Systems

31 tropical depressions formed this year in the Western Pacific, of which 27 became tropical storms. 20 storms reached typhoon intensity, of which 4 reached super typhoon strength. No storms this season caused significant damage or deaths.

### CMA Tropical Depression 01

A tropical depression formed to the northwest of Palau. Moving north-northwest, the depression degenerated to a remnant low as it made a counterclockwise direction before dissipating.
This depression was not recognized by the JMA, but the CMA.

### Severe Tropical Storm Polly

Tropical Storm Polly dropped heavy rains on the southern islands of Japan. 112 people were killed and 21 were missing from the floods and landslides caused by Polly's heavy rains.
On August 18, two sightseeing buses were involved in the landslide in Shirakawa, Gifu, it fell to the Hida River, and 96 persons died and 8 persons became missing (Japanese article).

### Severe Tropical Storm Trix (Iniang)

Severe Tropical Storm Trix struck the southern islands of Kyūshū and Shikoku. Heavy flooding killed 25 people and left 2 missing.

### Severe Tropical Storm Virginia

Virginia was first noticed near the International Date Line, about 500 kilometers (310 mi) northwest of Midway Islands. The system organized and the first advisory was issued on August 25 at 0006Z, with winds of 35 knots (40 mph). 18 hours later, Virginia crossed the date line, with winds of 50 knots (60 mph). It later became extratropical on August 27 in the Gulf of Alaska.

### Typhoon Wendy (Lusing)

Tropical Storm Wendy, which formed on August 28 in the open Western Pacific, quickly intensified to a peak of 160 mph winds on the 31st. It steadily weakened as it moved westward, and passed by southern Taiwan on September 5 as a minimal typhoon. Wendy continued to weaken, and after crossing the South China Sea, Wendy dissipated over northern Vietnam on the 9th.

### Typhoon Agnes

Typhoon which did not approach land closely. The typhoon was one of two Category 5 cyclones to be named Agnes, the other one being in 1952.

### Typhoon Della (Maring)

Typhoon Della struck Kyūshū Island in southern Japan with winds of 100 mph. Della killed 11 throughout southern Japan.

### Typhoon Elaine (Nitang)

Super Typhoon Elaine, after peaking at 175 mph winds, weakened to hit extreme northern Luzon on September 28 as a 130 mph typhoon. It continued to the northwest, and after hitting southeastern China as a minimal tropical storm Elaine dissipated on October 1.

### Typhoon Ora (Toyang)

A typhoon that made landfall in the Philippines as a category 1 and impacted most of the northern Philippines as a tropical storm.

## Storm names

Western North Pacific tropical cyclones were named by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The first storm of 1968 was named Jean and the final one was named Ora.
| Agnes 17W Bonnie 18W Carmen 19W Della 20W Elaine 21W Faye 22W Gloria 23W Hester 24W Irma 25W Judy 26W Kit 27W Lola 28W Mamie 29W Nina 30W Ora 31W Phyllis Rita Susan Tess Viola Winnie | Alice Betty Cora Doris Elsie Flossie Grace Helen Ida June Kathy Lorna Marie Nancy Olga Pamela Ruby Sally Therese Violet Wilda | Anita Billie Clara Dot Ellen Fran Georgia Hope Iris Joan Kate Louise Marge Nora Opal Patsy Ruth Sarah Thelma Vera Wanda | Amy Babe Carla Dinah Emma Freda Gilda Harriet Ivy Jean 2W Kim 3W Lucy 6W Mary 7W Nadine 8W Olive 9W Polly 10W Rose 12W Shirley 13W Trix 14W Virginia 15W Wendy 16W |

### Philippines

| Asiang | Biring | Konsing | Didang | Edeng |
| Gloring | Huaning | Iniang | Lusing | Maring |
| Nitang | Osang | Paring | Reming | Seniang |
| Toyang | Undang (unused) | Welpring (unused) | Yoning (unused) | |
| Auxiliary list |||||
| | | | | Aring (unused) |
| Basiang (unused) | Kayang (unused) | Dorang (unused) | Enang (unused) | Grasing (unused) |
The Philippine Weather Bureau (later renamed to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration in 1972) uses its own naming scheme for tropical cyclones in their area of responsibility. PAGASA assigns names to tropical depressions that form within their area of responsibility and any tropical cyclone that might move into their area of responsibility. Should the list of names for a given year prove to be insufficient, names are taken from an auxiliary list, the first 6 of which are published each year before the season starts. Names not retired from this list will be used again in the 1972 season. This is the same list used for the 1964 season, except for Didang and Iniang, which replaced Dading and Isang; the latter would later be reintroduced in 1972 for reasons still unknown. The Philippine Weather Bureau and its successor PAGASA uses its own naming scheme that starts in the Filipino alphabet, with names of Filipino female names ending with "ng" (A, B, K, D, etc.). Names that were not assigned/going to use are marked in gray.

## Season effects

This table will list all the storms that developed in the northwestern Pacific Ocean west of the International Date Line and north of the equator during 1968. It will include their intensity, duration, name, areas affected, deaths, missing persons (in parentheses), and damage totals. Classification and intensity values will be based on estimations conducted by the JMA, however due to lack of information around this time sustained winds were recorded by the JTWC. All damage figures will be in 1968 USD. Damages and deaths from a storm will include when the storm was a precursor wave or an extratropical low.
| Name | Dates | Peak intensity | Peak intensity | Peak intensity | Areas affected | Damage (USD) | Deaths | Refs |
| Name | Dates | Category | Wind speed | Pressure | Areas affected | Damage (USD) | Deaths | Refs |
| TD | January 20–26 | Tropical depression | Not specified | 1,002 hPa (29.59 inHg) | None | None | None | |
| TD | November 3–4 | Tropical depression | Not specified | 1,006 hPa (29.71 inHg) | None | None | None | |
| Lola | November 5–12 | Typhoon | 195 km/h (120 mph) | 940 hPa (27.76 inHg) | Mariana Islands | None | None | |
| Mamie (Reming) | November 9–25 | Typhoon | 120 km/h (75 mph) | 975 hPa (28.79 inHg) | Philippines, Vietnam | None | None | |
| Nina (Seniang) | November 15–29 | Typhoon | 130 km/h (80 mph) | 960 hPa (28.35 inHg) | Philippines, Vietnam | None | None | |
| Ora (Toyang) | November 19–30 | Typhoon | 220 km/h (135 mph) | 930 hPa (27.46 inHg) | Philippines | None | None | |
| TD | December 7 | Tropical depression | Not specified | 1,007 hPa (29.74 inHg) | Caroline Islands | None | None | |