Typhoon Paka

Typhoon Paka

Typhoon Paka developed on November 28 from a trough well to the southwest of Hawaii. On December 10 the cyclone attained typhoon status as it crossed the Marshall Islands. It struck Guam and Rota with winds of 230 kmh on December 16, and it strengthened further to reach peak winds on December 18 over open waters. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center unofficially assumed warning duties for interests in the U.S. Department of Defense.

About Typhoon Paka in brief

Summary Typhoon PakaTyphoon Paka, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Rubing, was the last tropical cyclone of the 1997 Pacific hurricane and typhoon season. Paka developed on November 28 from a trough well to the southwest of Hawaii. On December 10 the cyclone attained typhoon status as it crossed the Marshall Islands. It struck Guam and Rota with winds of 230 kmh on December 16, and it strengthened further to reach peak winds on December 18 over open waters as the final super typhoon of the year. It underwent a steady weakening trend, and on December 23 Paka dissipated. It left US$80 million in damages and destroyed 1,500 buildings on Guam. Damage on the island totaled US$500 million, which warranted the retirement of its name. It also caused minor damage in the Northern Mariana Islands, and overall, the typhoon did not cause any reported fatalities. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center unofficially assumed warning duties for interests in the U.S. Department of Defense. It was among the strongest Pacific typhoons in the month of December. It is the last typhoon to be classified as a Category 5 or higher hurricane or typhoon in the Pacific Ocean. It caused no deaths or significant damage in any part of the world. It became a tropical storm on December 2, and a typhoon on December 11.

It made landfall on Guam on December 15. It dissipated on December 17. It has been named after the Hawaiian name for Pat, which is also the name of a popular Hawaiian football team, the Hawaiians’ team, and has been known as Typhoon Paka since its formation in the 1970s. The storm is the most powerful typhoon ever to make landfall in the United States, with winds reaching up to 150 km/h (100 mph) in some parts of the South Pacific. The typhoon is one of the most destructive storms to hit the Philippines in the last 50 years of typhoon record-keeping. It had a sustained winds of 215kmh (150 km) for a ten-minute duration, or 215km h over a one-minute time frame. It hit the Marshall islands on December 10, causing $80 million in damages. It passed just north of Guam, where strong winds destroyed about 1, 500 buildingings and damaged 10,000 more; 5,000 people were left homeless, and the island experienced a complete power outage following the typhoons. It crossed the International Date Line into the western North Pacific Ocean on December 7. On the same day, the storm re-intensified, and at 1200 UTC on December 12 it reached winds of 150  kmh (125 mph), or 215 km h for a 10-minute duration.