The JMA GMS-1 satellite captured this image of Super Typhoon Tip in 1979 (Picture: SSEC/CIMSS)
Hurricane Milton was a monster storm which sent thousands fleeing from Florida, but it wasn’t the biggest on record.
Nor were Storm Bert and Storm Conall, which battered the UK this week and saw several deaths and hundreds of homes and businesses flooded.
The west coast of the US has also been pummeled by a bomb cyclone, bringing strong winds to coastal areas and heavy snow further inland.
Turning back the clock, the world’s largest ever storm hit more than 45 years ago, when Typhoon Tip churned above the Pacific.
It reached peak intensity on October 12 1979, before making landfall in Japan and dissipating soon after.
Measuring 1,380 miles in diameter (further than London to Romania), the super typhoon travelled a 20-day path around the ocean, and had a central pressure of 870 mb, compared to Milton’s 897 mb.
The path of Typhoon Tip through the Pacific Ocean. The points show the location of the storm at 6-hour intervals. The colour represents the storm’s maximum sustained wind speeds (Picture: Bruh2899)
People walk in strong wind as Typhoon Tip hits Tokyo on October 19, 1979 in Tokyo, Japan (Picture: The Asahi Shimbun/Getty)
And while the world has not seen such a large storm for many years, it may not be long before the record is broken.
Forecaster Jim Dale, the founder of British Weather Services, said hurricanes are getting stronger in general due to increased sea temperatures.
‘On a global scale this is only going in one direction,’ Jim told Metro.
Hurricane Milton came right on the heels of Hurricane Helene in a one-two punch to the southern US.
It is fastest storm on record to intensify into Category 5 in the Gulf of Mexico, and climatologists fear the usual hurricane season this year may set the scene for the world with more damaging hurricanes.
Tip, while a monster in size, was not the most deadly on record, and nor did it have the fastest winds.
It is possible that other storms have surpassed it in terms of its low pressure but were not noted as such, while Tip was one of the most studied storms ever.
The US Air Force flew dozens research missions into the cyclone to take measurements and help storm research.
Tip still holds the Guinness World Record for ‘largest tropical cyclone’ (hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are all much the same thing, but given different names depending in which part of the world they happen).
Cars run on a flooded road as Typhoon Tip hits on October 19, 1979 in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan (Picture: The Asahi Shimbun/Getty)
A fishing boat is washed ashore as Typhoon Tip hits on October 20, 1979 in Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan (Picture: The Asahi Shimbun/Getty)
Tip caused millions of pounds worth of damage to fishing and agricultural industries in Japan, and it also caused deaths of 86 people.
Among them were 13 US marines who were …read more
Source:: Metro
