Typhoon Gay (1992)

Typhoon Gay (1992)

Typhoon Gay, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Seniang, was the strongest and longest-lasting storm of the 1992 Pacific typhoon season. It formed on November 14 near the International Date Line from a monsoon trough, which also spawned two other systems. Gay first affected the Marshall Islands, where 5,000 people became homeless and heavy crop damage was reported. On November 23, Gay made landfall on Guam, becoming the third typhoon in three months to strike the island. The storm was the second-strongest tropical cyclone worldwide.

About Typhoon Gay (1992) in brief

Summary Typhoon Gay (1992)Typhoon Gay, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Seniang, was the strongest and longest-lasting storm of the 1992 Pacific typhoon season. It formed on November 14 near the International Date Line from a monsoon trough, which also spawned two other systems. The typhoon first affected the Marshall Islands, where 5,000 people became homeless and heavy crop damage was reported. Gay weakened rapidly after peaking because of interaction with another typhoon, and it struck Guam with winds of 160 kmh on November 23. Gay briefly re-intensified before weakening and becoming extratropical south of Japan on November 30. There were no fatalities among Marshall Islands citizens, although the typhoon killed a sailor traveling around the world. In the 24 hours after Gay reached its peak intensity, the JTWC estimated that the storm had decreased by 65kmh to below super typhoon status. Tropical cyclone forecast models had anticipated Gay to make a turn to the northeast, but it maintained a west-northwest track. Despite weakening steadily, the storm maintained a large wind diameter with a diameter of 1,480km. Around 0000 UTC on November 23, Gay made landfall on Guam, becoming the third typhoon in three months to strike the island—the others were Typhoon Omar in August and Typhoon Brian in October.

The storm was the second-strongest tropical cyclone worldwide. It would have made Gay the most intense typhoon since Typhoon Tip in 1979, tying with Hurricane Patricia in 2015 for the second most powerful cyclone in the history of the modern world. It was the sixth typhoon of the year to affect the island, making it the third storm of 1992 to hit Guam. It also scorched the plants on Guam with saltwater, causing extensive defoliation. It caused flooding and power outages in Okinawa, Japan, and destroyed a house on Saipan, and heavy rainfall in the nation’s capital of Majuro. Gay first affected Mejit Island and eventually crossed the central portion of the Marshall islands. Owing to favorable sea surface temperatures and upper-level wind patterns, theStorm entered a phase of rapid deepening similar to other November typhoons near that location. On November 19, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center upgraded Gay to a super Typhoon.