The 1948 Pacific typhoon season was an average season. It had no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1948, 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 1948 Pacific hurricane season. At the time, tropical storms that formed within this region of the western Pacific were identified and named by the United States Armed Services, and these names are taken from the list that USAS publicly adopted before the 1945 season started.[1][2]
Typhoon Karen, one of the earliest recorded super typhoons, developed on January 11, well west of the Philippines. It curved westward while slowly intensifying. After a prolonged period of slow intensification, the tropical cyclone began to rapidly strengthen. It became a super typhoon on January 16. Shortly after, it weakened and dissipated on January 19.
It struck Yap on January 14, damaging and destroying establishments and houses on the island.[3] It also wrecked the roofs of some U.S. warehouses and buildings, and downed power lines.[3] A food warehouse were washed out; however, some food supplies survived.[3]
After the typhoon, the navy transported some relief supplies to the populated island.[3] No deaths were reported.[3]
Typhoon Lana, the second system of the season, formed on May 16, west of the Philippines. It moved to the north-northeast while intensifying, reaching its peak intensity somewhere on May 18 and 19. It then weakened, until it was last noted on May 20 as it merged with a cold front.
Warnings were issued for Yap, Palau, Guam and Ulithi in preparations for the storm.[4] All ships in these islands were instructed to escape to Sangley Point due to the approaching typhoon.[5]
A plane in Guam encountered the strength of the typhoon; however, it escaped its fury.[5] Eighteen individuals were reported dead in Yap when their canoe sank during the storm.[5] The damage, however, was minimal.[5]
Ophelia formed on June10 in the South China Sea. It moved west and struck southern China. It dissipated the next day, without attaining maximum sustained winds any higher than 45 miles per hour (72km/h).
Pearl originated from a tropical depression located south of the Northern Mariana Islands on July 1. Developing into a tropical storm several hours later, further development occurred as Pearl tracked northwards, with it becoming a typhoon the next day. As a result, on July 4, Pearl peaked as a modern-day very strong typhoon with sustained winds of 90 knots (105mph) Several days later, on July 6, Pearl made landfall 40 miles east of Shanghai, veering to the northwest. Weakening occurred after this landfall, and by the time Pearl struck what is now South Korea, it was a minimal tropical storm. A weakening Pearl tracked northwards before dissipating in Manchuria on July 8.[6]
As Pearl neared Shanghai, American officials took measures to safeguard their vessels in the harbor.[7] Once Pearl struck near the city, dozens were injured due to the typhoon's high winds. Despite not experiencing the typhoon's peak winds, suburbs in Shanghai still saw some damage due to receiving winds up to 70 knots (80mph). Elsewhere, surge produced by Pearl killed ten people (one of them a missionary) when their boat, which was off the coast of Luzon, capsized.[8][9]
Rose formed east of the Philippines on July 23. It strengthened into a Category 1 typhoon and made landfall in Luzon. The storm traveled north and hit China as a tropical storm, and later dissipated on July 28.
Tropical Storm Dolores was tracked by the Air Weather Service located on Guam. At one point, a tropical storm was identified and assigned the name Eunice. The storm moved northwest and dissipated south of Japan. Post analysis showed that Tropical Storm Dolores was north of the forecast location and was synonymous with the system assigned Eunice.[10]
Gertrude formed on August 27 east of the Philippines. It moved west while reaching peak intensity as a Category 2 typhoon. It later weakened and re-strengthened to a Category 1 typhoon. After passing Luzon, Gertrude moved west-northwest and hit China as a tropical storm. It dissipated on September 4.
A Tropical Storm formed on September 11 and soon turned toward Japan as it gained strength. Ione soon reached category 4 intensity on September 14. Ione then began to lose strength and became a category 1 on September 16. Then, Ione struck Japan in that day killing 838people.[11] Ione further weakened and became a Tropical Storm on the 17th. Ione then dissipated.
Kit hit the Philippines and China as a tropical storm. After making landfall in China, the storm took an unusual track, moved south-southwest and struck Vietnam as a tropical depression.
Libby formed southeast of Japan on September 29. The storm moved west as it quickly strengthened into a Category 4 typhoon. It later weakened and turned northeast.
Between July 23 and August 4, the name Annabell was assigned to a North West Pacific system. The Air Weather Service issued a bulletin issued and tropical cyclone named on what was later determined to be "trough activity"
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