1974 Pacific typhoon season - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The 1974 Pacific typhoon season has no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1974, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between June and December. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.

The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean, north of the equator and west of the international date line

International Date Line

The International Date Line is a generally north-south imaginary line on the surface of the Earth, passing through the middle of the Pacific Ocean, that designates the place where each calendar day begins...

. Storms that form east of the date line and north of the equator are called hurricanes; see 1974 Pacific hurricane season

1974 Pacific hurricane season

The 1974 Pacific hurricane season officially started May 15, 1974 in the eastern Pacific, and June 1, 1974 in the central Pacific, and lasted until November 30, 1974. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northeast Pacific Ocean.With...

. Tropical Storms formed in the entire west pacific basin were assigned a name by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center

Joint Typhoon Warning Center

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force task force located at the Naval Maritime Forecast Center in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii...

. Tropical depressions in this basin have the "W" suffix added to their number. Tropical depressions that enter or form in the Philippine area of responsibility are assigned a name by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration

Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration is a Philippine national institution dedicated to provide flood and typhoon warnings, public weather forecasts and advisories, meteorological, astronomical, climatological, and other specialized information and...

or PAGASA. This can often result in the same storm having two names.

Storms

35 tropical depressions formed this year in the Western Pacific, of which 32 became tropical storms. Fifteen storms reached typhoon intensity, and none reached super typhoon strength.

Typhoon Dinah (Bising)

Dinah, which developed on June 7, hit Luzon

Luzon

Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...

on the 10th as an 80 mph typhoon. It continued northwestward, hit Hainan Island, crossed the Gulf of Tonkin, and dissipated over Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

. Dinah caused 73 casualties (with 33 missing), with $3 million in crop damage (1974 USD).

Typhoon Gilda (Deling)

When Tropical Storm Gilda, having weakened from a peak of 100 mph winds, crossed between Japan and South Korea in early July, it brought torrential rains and mudslides, killing 128 people (with 26 missing) and causing damage estimated at $1.5 billion (1974 USD).

Typhoon Ivy (Iliang)

66 people were killed with Typhoon Ivy hit Luzon on July 20. It continued northwestward, and hit southeastern China 2 days later.

Typhoon Mary

The monsoon trough spawned a tropical depression on August 10. It tracked to the northeast, then turned to the northwest where it became a tropical storm on the 11th. Mary's appearance resembled an extratropical cyclone due to vertical shear, and as the ridge built over Japan, Mary turned more to the west. Conditions were favorable enough for Mary to reach typhoon strength on the 18th, but it weakened to a tropical storm before hitting northeastern China on the 19th. A high pressure system over China forced now Tropical Depression Mary to the southeast, where it restrengthened into a tropical storm on the 24th. The storm turned to the northeast, briefly becoming a typhoon again on the 25th before weakening. Mary hit Japan on the 26th, and dissipated shortly thereafter. 3 lives were lost in Mary's path, with moderate damage occurring.

Typhoon Bess (Susang)

Typhoon Bess crossed northern Luzon on October 10, crossed the South China Sea, and hit Hainan Island on the 13th. Bess continued westward, and dissipated over Vietnam on the 14th. The storm dumped heavy rains on its path, causing 26 deaths (with 3 missing) and $9.2 million (1974 USD) in damage. The name Bess was retired after this season.

Typhoon Carmen (Tering)

Typhoon Carmen hit Luzon on October 16, just days after Bess hit. It continued northwestward, made landfall on southeastern China, turned south, and dissipated on the 20th. Typhoon Carmen caused sustained storm force winds in Hong Kong and 25 fatalities, with damage estimated at $13 million (1974 USD).

Typhoon Elaine (Wening)

23 casualties and $21 million in damage can be attributed to 110 mph Typhoon Elaine hitting northern Luzon on October 27.

Typhoon Irma (Bidang)

The last of the year's 8 typhoons to hit the Philippines made landfall on November 28 as a 100 mph typhoon. Irma, once a 135 mph typhoon, weakened over the islands and restrengthened into a typhoon in the South China Sea. It turned northward, and hit southern China as a weakening tropical storm on December 2, the latest date for a Chinese tropical storm landfall. Irma killed 11 people, and caused $7.3 million in damage (1974 USD).

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