Typhoon Amy was a

super typhoon Tropical cyclones are ranked on one of five tropical cyclone intensity scales, according to their maximum sustained winds and which tropical cyclone basins they are located in. Only a few scales of classifications are used officially by the mete ...

formed in August and September 1962. Amy made landfall in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

as a category 4 equivalent super typhoon, then in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

as a typhoon, moved out into the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...

, and finally made landfall in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

as a

tropical storm A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

Meteorological history

The precursor to Typhoon Amy formed on August 27 northwest of Truk as a surge from the westerlies. The system rapidly gained strength in the open waters of the Pacific Ocean, gaining enough winds to be declared a tropical depression on the morning of August 29. The depression rapidly intensified, becoming a tropical storm within six hours. Now named Amy, the cyclone bent northeast around

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

with winds of . After passing Saipan, Amy strengthened into a typhoon during the afternoon of August 30. Continuing to rapidly strengthen over water, Amy reached its peak wind speed of on the evening of September 1, far to the northeast of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. After peaking with a pressure of 935 millibars, the typhoon weakened back to and soon , which it sustained for several days. Crossing to the northeast of

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

, Amy maintained strength, rapidly approaching the island of Taiwan on September 4. The storm slowly weakened to a typhoon off the coast of Taiwan, making landfall on September 5 near the city of Yilan City. Amy weakened over land slightly before making landfall near

Fuzhou Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...

later that day. Amy crossed over mainland China for several days, slowly weakening into a minimal tropical storm before crossing back into the waters of the East China Sea near

Yancheng Yancheng () is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province of China, province, People's Republic of China. As the city with the largest jurisdictional area in Jiangsu, Yancheng borders Lianyungang to the north, Huai'an to the west, ...

. Amy strengthened back to winds of before weakening into a tropical depression off the coast of

. The depression made landfall near

Incheon Incheon (; ; or Inch'ŏn; literally "kind river"), formerly Jemulpo or Chemulp'o (제물포) until the period after 1910, officially the Incheon Metropolitan City (인천광역시, 仁川廣域市), is a city located in northwestern South Kore ...

on September 7, weakening over land. After crossing out into open waters, the remains of Amy became extratropical on September 8, affected by the cold air. The extratropical remains of Amy continued northeast along the North Korean mainland, crossing the island of

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

on September 9. The remains of Amy were lost off the eastern coast of

on September 10, west of the

Kamchatka Peninsula The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and we ...

Impact

Amy's flooding killed 24 people, with millions of dollars in damage, power, communication lines and buildings.

References

External links

Typhoon 'amy' Hits Formosa (1962)
– YouTube
1962 Typhoon Amy Hits Taiwan
– YouTube

– National Institute of Informatics 1962 Pacific typhoon season Typhoons in Taiwan {{Tropical-cyclone-stub

Meteorological history

Impact

See also

References

External links