Typhoon Tip

**Typhoon Tip**, known in the Philippines as **Super Typhoon Warling** (international designation: ***T7920***, JTWC designation: ***23W***) was the biggest and strongest known tropical cyclone on record. It was the 19th tropical storm and 12th typhoon of the 1979 Pacific typhoon season. The typhoon formed out of a  in a monsoon trough on October&nbsp;4 near Pohnpei. At first, a tropical storm to the northwest prevented Tip from strengthening, but after it moved further north, the storm was able to gain more strength. After passing near Guam, it strengthened quickly and reached its highest winds of 305&nbsp;km/h (190&nbsp;mph) and a worldwide record low barometric pressure of 870&nbsp;mbar (hPa, 25.69 inHg) on October&nbsp;12. At its peak strength, it was also the biggest tropical cyclone on record, with a diameter of 2,220&nbsp;km (1,380&nbsp;mi). Tip slowly weakened as it kept moving towards the west-northwest, and later turned to the northeast. Tip made landfall on southern Japan on October&nbsp;19, and became an extratropical cyclone shortly thereafter.

U.S. Air Force Reconnaissance flew into the typhoon on 60&nbsp;different times, making Tip one of the most closely watched tropical cyclones. Rainfall from the storm  a wall that was used to stop flooding at a United States Marine Corps training camp in the Kanagawa Prefecture of Japan. This eventually led to a fire which killed 13&nbsp;Marines and hurt 68. Elsewhere in the country, the typhoon caused lots of damage and 42&nbsp;deaths and shipwrecks left another 44&nbsp;killed.

## Meteorological history
Three low pressure areas formed the monsoon trough that extended from the Philippines to the Marshall Islands. An area of disturbed weather to the southwest of Guam eventually strengthened into Tropical Storm Roger on October&nbsp;3. Later on the same day, the tropical system which would later become Typhoon Tip formed to the south of Pohnpei. Because Roger was so close, the storm that would become Tip was not able to strengthen much. However, it gradually  as it moved towards the west. The tropical disturbance moved slowly and  and slowly made a loop to the southeast of Chuuk. A Reconnaissance Aircraft flight into the system late on October&nbsp;4 confirmed the existence of a circulation center. A bit later, on October&nbsp;5, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) called the system Tropical Depression Twenty-Three.

## Impact
 (the largest and one of the smallest tropical cyclones recorded, respectively)]]
The typhoon produced heavy rain while passing near Guam, including a total of 23.1&nbsp;cm (9.09&nbsp;in) an Air Force base.

Heavy rainfall from the typhoon  a wall used to stop flooding at Camp Fuji, a training camp for the United States Marine Corps near Yokosuka. This started a large fire which killed 13 Marines, hurt 68 others, along with 15 huts and several other buildings. Firemen from nearby areas arrived within two hours. Transportation in the country was also affected; 200 trains and 160 domestic airline flights were canceled. Tip was called the most severe storm to strike Japan in 13 years.

## Records and meteorological statistics
Typhoon Tip was the largest tropical cyclone on record, with a diameter of 1,380&nbsp;mi (2,220&nbsp;km). This is almost double the previous record of 700&nbsp;miles (1,130&nbsp;km) set by Typhoon Marge in August of 1951. At its largest size, Tip was nearly as big as half of the United States. When Tip was at its peak strength, the temperature inside the eye of was 30°&nbsp;C (86°&nbsp;F), which is high for a tropical cyclone. The records set by Tip still exists, although because Reconnaissance Aircraft missions in the western Pacific Ocean stopped in August 1987, some people think there might be slightly stronger cyclones. Three researchers found that two typhoons, Angela in 1995 and Gay in 1992, had higher Dvorak numbers than Tip. They believe that one or both of the two may have been stronger than Typhoon Tip. Also, Cyclone Monica of 2006 was rated at 869 mb by Dvorak classifications, but this is not considered accurate data. Because of this, it is unknown if Tip still has the world record. Despite its record intensity and severe damage, the name Tip was not retired. It was then reused in 1983, 1986, and 1989.

## Related pages
*List of Pacific typhoon seasons

## References