The 1968 Pacific typhoon season has no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1968, 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. Storms that form east of the date line and north of the equator are called hurricanes; see 1968 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 Weather Bureau, the predecessor of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). This can often result in the same storm having two names.
Systems
31 tropical depressions formed this year in the Western Pacific, of which 27 became tropical storms. 20 storms reached typhoon intensity, of which 4 reached super typhoon strength. No storms this season caused significant damage or deaths.
CMA Tropical Depression 01
A tropical depression formed to the northwest of Palau. Moving north-northwest, the depression degenerated to a remnant low as it made a counterclockwise direction before dissipating.
This depression was not recognized by the JMA, but the CMA.
Tropical Storm 01W (Asiang) 01W formed east of the Philippines on February 28. It moved northwest, intensified into a tropical storm and soon dissipated on March 2.
Typhoon Jean Jean formed southeast of Guam on April 5. It moved northwest in the following days, strengthening to a Category 3 Typhoon with winds of 285km/h and central pressure of 935 hPa. The storm later curved northwest and dissipated on April 19.
Typhoon Kim (Biring) Kim formed southeast of Guam on May 28. It intensified into a Category 3 typhoon while curving northeast. Kim slowly weakened as it moved north. The storm dissipated on June 5.
Tropical Depression 04W 04W was an extremely short-lived storm that only lasted for a day.
Tropical Storm 05W 05W was a weak tropical storm that existed from June 4 to June 8.
Typhoon Lucy (Konsing) Lucy was a category 3 typhoon that existed from May 28 to June 5.
Typhoon Mary
Mary was a Category 4 super typhoon. It formed on July 19. Mary hit Japan as a tropical storm and dissipated on August 3.
Tropical Storm Nadine (Didang) Nadine existed from July 20 to July 28.
Tropical Storm Olive (Edeng) Olive existed from July 21 to July 28.
CMA Tropical Depression 11 The storm didn't affect land.
CMA Tropical Depression 12 The storm didn't affect land.
CMA Tropical Depression 13 The storm hit China as a tropical depression.
Tropical Storm Polly
Tropical Storm Polly dropped heavy rains on the southern islands of Japan. 112 people were killed and 21 were missing from the floods and landslides caused by Polly's heavy rains.Digital Typhoon: Disaster Information
On August 18, two sightseeing buses were involved in the landslide in Shirakawa, Gifu, it fell to the Hida River, and 96 persons died and 8 persons became missing (Japanese article).
Tropical Depression 11W 11W was a short-lived weak tropical depression.
Tropical Storm Rose (Gloring) Rose made landfall in the Philippines and China as a tropical storm.
CMA Tropical Depression 16 The storm stayed out at sea.
Typhoon Shirley (Huaning) Shirley hit Luzon and Hong Kong as a tropical storm.
Tropical Storm Trix (Iniang)
Severe Tropical Storm Trix struck the southern islands of Kyūshū and Shikoku. Heavy flooding killed 25 people and left 2 missing.
CMA Tropical Depression 18
Tropical Storm Virginia
Virginia was first noticed near the International Date Line, about northwest of Midway Islands. The system organized and the first advisory was issued on August 25 at 0006Z, with winds of . 18 hours later, Virginia crossed the date line, with winds of 50 knots (60 mph). It later became extratropical on August 27 in the Gulf of Alaska.
Super Typhoon Wendy (Lusing)
Tropical Storm Wendy, which formed on August 28 in the open Western Pacific, quickly intensified to a peak of 160 mph winds on the 31st. It steadily weakened as it moved westward, and passed by southern Taiwan on September 5 as a minimal typhoon. Wendy continued to weaken, and after crossing the South China Sea, Wendy dissipated over northern Vietnam on the 9th.
A weather station in Phù Liễn (Hải Phòng) recorded wind gusts reaching up to 205 km/h or even higher, exceeding the measuring capacity of the anemometer. In Hải Phòng alone, the storm caused 155 deaths and injured 400 people.
Super Typhoon Agnes
Typhoon Agnes originated as a low-pressure area in the western Pacific on August 27. Initially classified as a tropical disturbance, it tracked west-northwestward, intensifying into a tropical depression by August 28 and reaching tropical storm status by August 29 near the Marshall Islands. Agnes underwent rapid intensify between September 2–3, achieving super typhoon status with 1-minute sustained winds of 175 mph (280 km/h) and a lowest central pressure of 900 hPa, making it the most intense storm of the 1968 Pacific season. During this phase, it followed a west-northwest trajectory across the Philippine Sea, accelerating to speeds of 24.7 km/h. By September 4, Agnes began recurving northeastward south of Japan, and weakened to a Category 1 typhoon by September 7. It transitioned into an extratropical cyclone northeast of Japan on September 10 and fully dissipated over the North Pacific on September 11.
Typhoon Bess Bess was a Category 1 typhoon that hit China.
CMA Tropical Depression 24
Typhoon Carmen Carmen was a category 3 typhoon that didn't affect land.
Typhoon Della (Maring)
Typhoon Della struck Kyūshū Island in southern Japan with winds of 100 mph. Della killed 11 throughout southern Japan.
Super Typhoon Elaine (Nitang)
Super Typhoon Elaine, after peaking at 175 mph winds, weakened to hit extreme northern Luzon on September 28 as a 130 mph typhoon. It continued to the northwest, and after hitting southeastern China as a minimal tropical storm Elaine dissipated on October 1.
Super Typhoon Faye Faye was a Category 5 super typhoon that didn't make landfall.
Typhoon Gloria (Osang) Gloria was a category 2 typhoon that didn't make landfall.
CMA Tropical Depression 29
Tropical Storm Hester Hester hit Vietnam as a tropical storm.
Typhoon Irma Irma was a category 1 typhoon that didn't make landfall.
Typhoon Judy (Paring) Judy was a category 4 typhoon that didn't affect land.
Typhoon Kit Kit was a category 1 typhoon that existed from October 26 to November 5.
Typhoon Lola Lola was a Category 3 typhoon that stayed out to sea.
Typhoon Mamie (Reming) Mamie hit the Philippines as a tropical storm.
Typhoon Nina (Seniang) Nina hit the Philippines as a tropical storm, and later intensified to a category 1 typhoon east of Vietnam.
Typhoon Ora (Toyang)
A typhoon that made landfall in the Philippines as a category 1 and impacted most of the northern Philippines as a tropical storm.
Storm names Western North Pacific tropical cyclones were named by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The first storm of 1968 was named Jean and the final one was named Ora.
Agnes 17W Bess 18W Carmen 19W Della 20W Elaine 21W Faye 22W Gloria 23W Hester 24W Irma 25W Judy 26W Kit 27W Lola 28W Mamie 29W Nina 30W Ora 31W Phyllis Rita Susan Tess Viola Winnie Alice Betty Cora Doris Elsie Flossie Grace Helen Ida June Kathy Lorna Marie Nancy Olga Pamela Ruby Sally Therese Violet Wilda Anita Billie Clara Dot Ellen Fran Georgia Hope Iris Joan Kate Louise Marge Nora Opal Patsy Ruth Sarah Thelma Vera Wanda Amy Babe Carla Dinah Emma Freda Gilda Harriet Ivy Jean 2W Kim 3W Lucy 6W Mary 7W Nadine 8W Olive 9W Polly 10W Rose 12W Shirley 13W Trix 14W Virginia 15W Wendy 16W
Philippines Asiang Biring Konsing Didang Edeng Gloring Huaning Iniang Lusing Maring Nitang Osang Paring Reming Seniang Toyang Auxiliary list The Philippine Weather Bureau (later renamed to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration in 1972) uses its own naming scheme for tropical cyclones in their area of responsibility. PAGASA assigns names to tropical depressions that form within their area of responsibility and any tropical cyclone that might move into their area of responsibility. Should the list of names for a given year prove to be insufficient, names are taken from an auxiliary list, the first 6 of which are published each year before the season starts. Names not retired from this list will be used again in the 1972 season. This is the same list used for the 1964 season, except for Didang and Iniang, which replaced Dading and Isang; the latter would later be reintroduced in 1972 for reasons still unknown. The Philippine Weather Bureau and its successor PAGASA uses its own naming scheme that starts in the Filipino alphabet, with names of Filipino female names ending with "ng" (A, B, K, D, etc.). Names that were not assigned/going to use are marked in .
Season effects This table will list all the storms that developed in the northwestern Pacific Ocean west of the International Date Line and north of the equator during 1968. It will include their intensity, duration, name, areas affected, deaths, missing persons (in parentheses), and damage totals. Classification and intensity values will be based on estimations conducted by the JMA, however due to lack of information around this time sustained winds were recorded by the JTWC. All damage figures will be in 1968 USD. Damages and deaths from a storm will include when the storm was a precursor wave or an extratropical low.
| TD || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || None || None || None || |- | TD || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || None || None || None || |- | Lola || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || Mariana Islands || None || None || |- | Mamie (Reming) || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || Philippines, Vietnam || None || None || |- | Nina (Seniang) || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || Philippines, Vietnam || None || None || |- | Ora (Toyang) || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || Philippines || None || None || |- | TD || || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || bgcolor=#| || Caroline Islands || None || None ||
</div> See also Australian cyclone seasons: 1967–68, 1968–69 South Pacific cyclone seasons: 1967–68, 1968–69 South-West Indian Ocean cyclone seasons: 1967–68, 1968–69
References
External links Japan Meteorological Agency Joint Typhoon Warning Center . China Meteorological Agency National Weather Service Guam Hong Kong Observatory Macau Meteorological Geophysical Services Korea Meteorological Agency Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration Taiwan Central Weather Bureau Digital Typhoon - Typhoon Images and Information Typhoon2000 Philippine typhoon website