Typhoon Olga, also known in 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 ...

as Typhoon Ising, was a

typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

that hit

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

in 1999. Olga killed 106 people in

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

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 ...

and caused US$657 million in damages.

Meteorological history

On July 26, a disturbance began to develop at the eastern end of a well-defined monsoon trough well to the east of the

. The convection within the disturbance increased as it moved to the north and Tropical Depression 11W formed on July 29. The system continued to intensify, becoming Typhoon Olga two days later as it approached

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 ...

. On August 1 Olga made landfall on the Japanese island as a typhoon, weakening slightly as it passed over the island. As it moved to the north-northwest it intensified to its peak with 150 km/h (90 mph) winds as it approached Korea. The storm was beginning to weaken as it passed to the west of Cheju Island on August 3 and it made a second brief landfall on the T'aean Peninsula before moving north in the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. It is one of four seas named after common colour terms ...

. The storm made its final landfall in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

as a strong tropical storm later that day with 100 km/h (65 mph) winds and became extratropical soon after. Both the JMA and

PAGASA Pagasa may refer to: * ''Pagasa'' (genus), an insect genus in the family Nabidae * PAGASA, an acronym for the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration *"May Pagasa", a pen-name of José Rizal José Prot ...

considered Olga a typhoon, with PAGASA naming the storm ''Ising'' before the

JTWC The Joint typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The JTWC is responsible for the issuing of tropical cyclone warnings in the North-West Pacific Ocean, South P ...

issued its first warning on the developing system.

Impact

Although Typhoon Olga never approached the Philippines closely, it was responsible for heavy rains over much 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 ...

that displaced 80,000 and killed 160 people, 60 of which coming from a landslide that occurred in

Antipolo Antipolo, officially known as the City of Antipolo ( fil, Lungsod ng Antipolo), is a 1st class component city and capital of the province of Rizal, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 887,399 people. It is the mo ...

, a suburban city outside

Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the capital region, seat of government and one of three List of metrop ...

. Olga passed over Okinawa, with winds of 80 km/h (50 mph) recorded at

Kadena Air Base (IATA: DNA, ICAO: RODN) is a highly strategic United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is often referred to as the "Keystone of the Pacific" because of its highl ...

, causing minimal damage. Torrential rain of up to 600 mm (24 inches) fell on the

, with the highest totals falling near the border between North and South Korea. The resulting floods and landslides caused 64 fatalities in South Korea and wind gusts of 96 km/h (60 mph) were reported near

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

. The flooding in South Korea destroyed about 400 km² (150 sq mi) of

rice paddies A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre-Aust ...

and 8,500 homes, leaving 25,000 people homeless. The Red Cross reported a further 42 deaths and 40,000 were made homeless from flooding in

. That same flooding worsened the ongoing food shortages across the country. Typhoon Olga brought the heaviest rains recorded in Korea for 25 years and caused a total of $657 million of damage in South Korea.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olga (1999) Typhoons in South Korea 1999 in South Korea 1999 in North Korea Typhoons in North Korea 1999 Pacific typhoon season

Meteorological history

Impact

See also

References