Typhoon Joan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Sening, was the first of two

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 ...

s to strike 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 ...

within a week in October 1970, the second being Super Typhoon Kate. Super Typhoon Joan is the fourth strongest typhoon ever to affect the

, just after typhoons Haiyan, Meranti, and Goni.

Meteorological history

A tropical disturbance was first detected on October 8 near Truk (now Chuuk) and

Ponape Ponape may refer to: * Pohnpei, an island in the Federated States of Micronesia * ''Ponape'' (barque), a German sailing ship {{disambiguation ...

(now Pohnpei). Due to the wind and sea conditions, the disturbance moved west quicker than expected at near 17 knots (31 km/h or 20 mph). A circulation developed on the morning of October 9, and it was a tropical storm by the time it passed

Ulithi Atoll Ulithi ( yap, Wulthiy, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap. Overview Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest i ...

. Joan continued to strengthen, and by October 11 had become a typhoon. However, it had slowed in forward speed due to it moving near an

anticyclone An anticyclone is a weather phenomenon defined as a large-scale circulation of winds around a central region of high atmospheric pressure, clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from abov ...

that was located 300 miles (480 km) southeast of

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. As Joan continued to strengthen, it reacted to the ridge line, and turned to the northwest, aiming the storm straight at the

Bicol Peninsula Bicol, known formally as the Bicol Region or colloquially as Bicolandia ( bcl, Rehiyon kan Bikol; Rinconada Bikol: ''Rehiyon ka Bikol''; Waray Sorsogon, Masbateño: ''Rehiyon san Bikol''; tl, Rehiyon ng Bikol), is an administrative region 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 ...

. An aerial

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

crew (similar to Hurricane Hunters) sent to investigate Joan on October 13 encountered severe turbulence and a

g-force The gravitational force equivalent, or, more commonly, g-force, is a measurement of the type of force per unit mass – typically acceleration – that causes a perception of weight, with a g-force of 1 g (not gram in mass measure ...

reading of 2.5 ''g''s as the storm was at its peak. The readings sent back put Joan with 150 knot (280 km/h or 175 mph) winds and a minimum central pressure of 905 mb. The storm made landfall near noon the same day in the

Lagonoy Lagonoy, officially the Municipality of Lagonoy ( bcl, Banwaan kan Lagonoy; tl, Bayan ng Lagonoy), is a 2nd class municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the ...

Gulf region of Luzon, but not before it had threatened and brushed the coast of

Catanduanes Island Catanduanes (; ), officially the Province of Catanduanes, is an island Provinces of the Philippines, province located in the Bicol Region of Luzon in the Philippines. It is the List of islands of the Philippines#Catanduanes, 12th-largest island ...

. Bicol and Tagalog Provinces were affected as the storm continued to move across Luzon, losing strength. On October 14, the storm passed within 20 miles (32 km) of

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

. Joan then entered 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 ...

. However, its path over Luzon had caused it to lose organisation around the vertical structure of the central

eye Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...

region of Joan. Over October 14 and 15, the area of

gale-force The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale. History The scale was devised in 1805 by the Irish hydrographer Francis Beaufort ...

(tropical storm-force) winds grew to a - (400 km) radius from its centre. Its eye diameter also grew to 80 miles (130 km) - double the average eye diameter. This area filled almost the whole northern South China Sea and made Joan the largest storm of the season in size. A

trough Trough may refer to: In science * Trough (geology), a long depression less steep than a trench * Trough (meteorology), an elongated region of low atmospheric pressure * Trough (physics), the lowest point on a wave * Trough level (medicine), the l ...

over central

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 ...

interacted with the ridge line and made Joan turned more northerly, and the storm took aim at the northeastern tip of

Hainan Island Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

on October 17. It made landfall on the

Luichow Peninsula The Leizhou Peninsula, alternately romanized as the Luichow Peninsula, is a peninsula in the southernmost part of Guangdong province in South China. History Qing naval forces were stationed at the Leizhou Peninsula. During the 19th century, ...

as a minimal typhoon and dissipated over southern China on October 18.

Impact

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

LORAN LORAN, short for long range navigation, was a hyperbolic radio navigation system developed in the United States during World War II. It was similar to the UK's Gee system but operated at lower frequencies in order to provide an improved range u ...

station on

Catanduanes Catanduanes (; ), officially the Province of Catanduanes, is an island province located in the Bicol Region of Luzon in the Philippines. It is the 12th-largest island in the Philippines, and lies to the east of Camarines Sur, across Maqueda Cha ...

, 30 miles (50 km) north of where the centre of the storm passed, recorded a windspeed of 90 knots (165 km/h or 105 mph) gusting to 110 knots (205 km/h or 130 mph). In Virac, on the island, the Philippine Weather Bureau station recorded a minimum sea level pressure of 950.7 mb and winds of , but was heavily damaged. Typhoon Joan made a direct hit on Naga City, where many people died from flying debris, collapsing homes, falling trees and floods. By doing so, the storm became the most intense storm ever of the Bicol Region.

Manila International Airport Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA , ; fil, Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Ninoy Aquino or ''Pandaigdigang Paliparan ng Ninoy Aquino''; ), originally known and still commonly referred to as Manila International Airport (MIA), is the main ...

reported a peak gust of 84 knots (156 km/h or 97 mph) and a minimum pressure reading of 976.9 mb, while a U.S. Coast Guard ship, the '' USCGC Blackhaw'' anchored in

Manila Bay Manila Bay ( fil, Look ng Maynila) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Phili ...

reported a gust. The storm caused damage bad enough to rank high as some of the most destructive figures ever. Joan left over 80,000 people homeless, in addition to killing 575 people (193 people were unaccounted for, and have since been declared dead, bringing the total toll to 768) and injuring nearly 1600.

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

74 million (1970

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

, $373 million 2005 USD) of damage was estimated, along with a 92% loss of agricultural crop in the regions affected. Later that same week, Super Typhoon Kate devastated the Philippines, making conditions worse. In the South China Sea, shipping traffic was disrupted and USS ''Agerholm'' was reportedly in distress for almost 24 hours. However, there is a lack of information about damage and deaths in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joan (1970) 1970 Pacific typhoon season Typhoons in the Philippines Typhoons in China

Typhoon Joan Typhoon Joan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Sening, was the first of two super typhoons to strike the Philippines within a week in October 1970, the second being Super Typhoon Kate. Super Typhoon Joan is the fourth strongest typhoon ...

Typhoons Retired Philippine typhoon names 1970 disasters in Asia

Meteorological history

Impact

See also

References