| 1977 Pacific Typhoon Season |
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The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean, north of the equator and west of the International Date Line . Storms that form east of the date line and north of the equator are called hurricanes; see 1977 Pacific Hurricane Season . Tropical Storms formed in the entire west pacific basin were assigned a name by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center . 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 or PAGASA. This can often result in the same storm having two names. STORMS 21 tropical depressions formed this year in the Western Pacific, of which 19 became tropical storms. 11 storms reached typhoon intensity, of which 1 reached super typhoon strength. Bering Sea Hurricane of 1977 A small polar low formed over the Bering Sea on March 7 , 1977 along a frontal zone. The storm moved eastward, reaching a low barometric pressure of 973 millibars. The storm struck near Cape Newenham, Alaska on March 9 , and quickly dissipated. Though it resembled a typhoon at its peak, with a well-defined eye and strong, symetric convection, the storm was extratropical due to the very cold water temperatures and extratropical formation. {Link without Title} Typhoon Thelma A tropical disturbance east of the Philippines organized into a tropical depression on July 21 . It moved to the northwest, strengthening into a tropical storm later that day and into a typhoon on the 22nd. After passing northern Luzon Thelma turned to the north, where it reached a peak intensity of 95 mph winds. The typhoon hit southern Taiwan on the 25th, crossed the island, and dissipated over southeastern China on the 26th. Though not a particularly strong storm, Thelma brought strong wind gusts and heavy rain, claiming more than 30 lives and bringing damage and destruction not seen to the island for over 80 years. Typhoon Vera Just 6 days after Thelma hit Taiwan, another typhoon was brewing to its east. Typhoon Vera, which developed on July 28 , hit eastern Taiwan on the 31st as a 130 mph typhoon. It continued westward, and dissipated over southeastern China. The storm caused 25 additional fatalities to the island, with vast amounts of crop and property damage occurring. Super Typhoon Babe On September 2 , Tropical Depression 10 developed well east of the Philippines. Later that day, it reached tropical storm status, and Babe continued to the west, threatening the central Philippines. A break in the subtropical ridge forced Babe northward, where favorable conditions aloft allowed Babe to rapidly intensify, first to a typhoon on the 6th, then to a super typhoon on the 8th. With a northwest movement, the typhoon-flogged Taiwan was again threatened, but Babe turned to the northeast, hitting Okinoerabu Island, Kagoshima . Now Japan was threatened, and full precautions were put in place. Like most of its lifetime, though, Babe changed course, and turned to the northwest in response to the building of the ridge to Babe's northeast. There, unfavorable conditions weakened Babe to a minimal typhoon as it hit near Shanghai, China on the 10th. Babe caused 16 casualties, mostly from shipping, and minor to moderate damage on its path. Those statistics would have been higher if it continued in any one direction of its lifetime. Typhoon Dinah The monsoon trough spawned a tropical storm on September 14 northeast of the northern Philippines. The previous typhoon brought the trough more northward, hence the unusually high latitude for a monsoon storm. Strong high pressure to Dinah's northwest forced the storm to the southwest, where it crossed northern Luzon on the 15th and 16th. Weak steering currents in the South China Sea allowed Dinah to drift, first then to the northeast then back to the west-southwest. Generally favorable conditions allowed Dinah to reach typhoon strength on the 19th, but a developing tropical storm to its northeast caused it to weaken. The building of the subtropical ridge forced Dinah to the southwest, where it hit southern Vietnam on the 23rd as a tropical depression. The remnants turned northward, crossed the Gulf of Tonkin, and dissipated over China on the 27th. Dinah brought heavy rain and flooding to Luzon, causing 15 deaths and moderate damage. Typhoon Kim Typhoon Kim was a 135 mph typhoon that hit the northern Philippines on November 13 . The typhoon's heavy rains caused flashflooding that left 55 people dead with widespread damage. A further 47 people died when an upper floors of an hotel caught fire during the storm. 1977 STORM NAMES Western North Pacific tropical cyclones were named by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center . The first storm of 1977 was named Patsy and the final one was named Mary. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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