100px|Typhoon Tip at peak intensity on October 12, 1979
Typhoon Tip was the largest and most intense tropical cyclone on
record. The nineteenth tropical storm and twelfth typhoon of the 1979
Pacific typhoon season, Tip developed out of a disturbance in the
monsoon trough on October 4 near Pohnpei. Initially, a tropical storm
to its northwest hindered the development and motion of Tip, though
after it tracked further north Tip was able to intensify. After passing
Guam, it rapidly intensified and reached peak winds of 305 km/h
(190 mph) and a worldwide record low sea-level pressure of 870 mbar
(hPa, 25.69 inHg) on October 12. At its peak strength, it was also the
largest tropical cyclone on record with a diameter of 2,220 km
(1,380 mi). It slowly weakened as it continued west-northwestward, and
later turned to the northeast under the influence of an approaching
trough. Tip made landfall on southern Japan on October 19, and became
an extratropical cyclone shortly thereafter. U.S. Air Force
Reconnaissance flew 60 missions into the typhoon, making Tip one of the
most closely observed tropical cyclones. Rainwater from the typhoon
breached a flood-retaining wall at a United States Marine Corps
training camp in the Kanagawa Prefecture of Japan, leading to a fire
which killed 13 Marines and injured 68. Elsewhere in the country, the
typhoon led to widespread flooding and 42 deaths, while offshore
shipwrecks left 44 killed or missing. (more...)
Recently featured: Charles Stewart (Canadian politician) – Star Trek
V: The Final Frontier – Peace dollar
Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Tip>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1759:
Arthur Guinness signed a 9,000-year lease at £45 per annum to the St.
James's Gate Brewery in Dublin and began brewing Guinness.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guinness>
1775:
American Revolutionary War: At the Battle of Quebec, British forces
repulsed an attack by the Continental Army to capture Quebec City and
enlist French Canadian support.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Quebec_%281775%29>
1965:
Jean-Bédel Bokassa, leader of the Central African Republic army, and
his military officers began a coup d'état against the government of
President David Dacko.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Sylvestre_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat>
1972:
American baseball player Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash en
route to deliver aid to victims of the Nicaragua earthquake.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Clemente>
1999:
Panama took control of the Panama Canal Zone from the United States, in
accordance with the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panama_Canal_Zone>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
kookaburra (n):
Any of several species of kingfishers in the genus Dacelo, known for
their laugh-like call
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kookaburra>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
At each stage I reach a balance, a conclusion. At the next sitting, if
I find that there is a weakness in the whole, I make my way back into
the picture by means of the weakness — I re-enter through the breach —
and I reconceive the whole. Thus everything becomes fluid again.
--Henri Matisse
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henri_Matisse>