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 Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration or PAGASA. This can often result in the same storm having two names.
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.
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 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.[1]
Virginia was first noticed near the International Date Line, about 500 kilometers (310 mi) northwest of Midway Islands. The system organized and the first advisory was issued on August 25 at 0006Z, with winds of 35 knots (40 mph). 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.
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.
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.
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
Bonnie 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
Isang
Lusing
Maring
Nitang
Osang
Paring
Reming
Seniang
Toyang
Undang (unused)
Welpring (unused)
Yoning (unused)
Auxiliary list
Aring (unused)
Basiang (unused)
Kayang (unused)
Dorang (unused)
Enang (unused)
Grasing (unused)
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration 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, which replaced Dading. 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 gray.
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 1969 USD. Damages and deaths from a storm will include when the storm was a precursor wave or an extratropical low.
