Typhoon Billie, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Nitang, was an early August Category 4–equivalent typhoon that affected southern Japan, Taiwan and China. Billie left 48 people dead and eight others missing (mostly at sea) and left $2.6 million (1976

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

, $8.9 million 2005 USD) in damage in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

and eastern

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

after its 3449 km track across the far western

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

.Digital Typhoon: Typhoon 197613 (BILLIE) - Pressure and Track Charts
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Meteorological history

A tropical disturbance northeast of

Ponape Ponape may refer to: *Pohnpei Pohnpei (formerly known as Ponape or Ascension, from Pohnpeian: "upon (''pohn'') a stone altar (''pei'')") is an island of the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group. It belongs to ...

formed on July 31 and moved westward as it continued to strengthen, becoming Tropical Depression 13W on August 3. Interacting with a subtropical

ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

to the north, the tropical depression turned sharply

northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—eac ...

and passed over

Saipan Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...

before strengthening into Tropical Storm Billie. Driven by a high pressure system and a

trough Trough may refer to: In science * Trough (geology), a long depression less steep than a trench * Trough (meteorology), an elongated region of low atmospheric pressure * Trough (physics), the lowest point on a wave * Trough level (medicine), the l ...

, Billie then turned to the southwest and then westward and intensified into a typhoon on August 5. On August 7, Typhoon Billie underwent rapid intensification, reaching a maximum intensity of 140 mph (125 knots). By August 12, the tropical cyclone had encountered

wind shear Wind shear (; also written windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical ...

which weakened the storm, before it made landfall on

as a Category 1 typhoon, and later on China

as a

tropical storm A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure area, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its lo ...

. Billie degenerated into a remnant low soon after landfall. However, the system's remnants persisted for another couple of days, as they moved deeper into China, before dissipating on August 14.

Impact

Billie skirted the

Ryūkyū Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands ( Ōsumi, Tokara and Amami) and Okinawa Prefecture ( Daitō, Miyako, Y ...

before making landfall in

and again in eastern

, producing huge waves that drowned 41 fishermen and swimmers along the coast of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. A

JTWC The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The JTWC is responsible for the issuing of tropical cyclone warnings in the North-West Pacific Ocean, South P ...

weather station in

Miyakojima is the largest and the most populous island among the Miyako Islands of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Miyako Island is administered as part of the City of Miyako Island, which includes not only Miyako Island, but also five other islands. Geogr ...

reported a barometric pressure of 962 millibars and winds of . In Ishigakijima, a weather station reported winds of and a barometric pressure of 952 millibars.navy.mil
Typhoon Billie report Billie's second landfall was south of

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

where a weather station reported winds. However, at the Taipei International Airport, the winds were at with gusts up to . Billie's impact in

was destructive as the storm sank three ships and damaged several others and killed seven people, leaving eight others missing, injured 24 and left $2.6 million (1976

, $8.9 million 2005 USD) in damage. The third and final landfall was in eastern

as a

which brought winds and heavy rain but there were no reports of deaths or damage reported.

External links

Typhoon Billie report

Billie 1976 track

Billie 1976 best track data

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Billie (1976) 1976 Pacific typhoon season

Meteorological history

Impact

See also

External links

References