Typhoon Isaac, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Julian, was an extremely powerful and large typhoon that struck Southeast Asia, it was the strongest and last storm of the 2016 Pacific typhoon season, It was the most catastrophic storm in the Philippines, it also sent the entire country in a state of national calamity, Isaac was the 13th storm of the 2016 Pacific typhoon season, it is also the current strongest worldwide in both pressure and strength.
Meteorological history | |
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Formed | December 31, 2016 |
Extratropical | January 27, 2017 |
Dissipated | January 30, 2017 |
Violent typhoon | |
10-minute sustained (JMA) | |
Highest winds | 360 km/h (225 mph) |
Lowest pressure | 868 hPa (mbar); 25.63 inHg |
Category 5-equivalent super typhoon | |
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/JTWC) | |
Highest winds | 385 km/h (240 mph) |
Lowest pressure | 855 hPa (mbar); 25.25 inHg |
Overall effects | |
Fatalities | 27,298+ |
Injuries | 79,912+ |
Missing | 45,719+ |
Damage | >$24 billion |
Areas affected | The Philippines, all of Indochina, and China. |
Part of the 2016 Pacific typhoon season |
Isaac was the most intense storm worldwide, it also took the record from both Patricia and Tip, it remains the strongest landfalling storm, with Typhoon Goni coming second, Isaac was also the deadliest storm in Asia, it was also the most costliest worldwide, tens of millions of people lost their homes, and hundreds of millions lost electricity.
Meteorological History
editUnlike other storms, this typhoon had an eerily similar track to the destructive Typhoon Haiyan Isaac's origins can be traced back to December 31, 2016, when a deep convection area formed near Pohnpei, this area started moving west, slightly weakening due to vertical wind shear, it then started to slightly intensify to a severe tropical storm, getting numbered 97L, before undergoing rapid intensification at a rate of 55 m/s, taking the record from Hurricane Patricia, this storm was then named "Isaac", it then formed a clear pinhole eye, before undergoing an eyewall replacement cycle, in which it fluctuated between category 5 and category 2, it then restrengthened to 385 km/h, becoming the most intense storm in the world, it also grew to a whopping 2400 miles, also becoming the biggest storm in the world.
It then made its first landfall over Polillo Islands, cutting off all electricity, and uprooting tens of hundreds of trees, it also killed 760 people, 60 indirectly due to a landslide, it made its second landfall in Eastern Guiuan, Samar, where it killed another 672+ people, 89 indirectly due to a ferry capsizing, it then made its worst landfall in Tacloban, Leyte, killing over a thousand people there, it then made its fourth landfall in Cebu, cutting off 60% of electricity, it then made its fith landfall in Palawan, before exiting the PAR as a category 4 typhoon, it then weakened to a category 2, as it kept moving towards Vietnam, it weakened to a Category 1 typhoon, making its sixth landfall in Hanoi, then all the other Indochina nations, it then made its seventh and final landfall in China, before dissipating as an extratropical cyclone.