Hurricane (Typhoon) · Guam

A tropical disturbance was noted just northwest of Kosrae on the morning of October 21 near 8N160E. By the morning of October 22 the system had become Tropical depression 31W and was 130 miles north-northwest of Pohnpei. 31W continued to intensify through the day and by the afternoon of the 22nd became Tropical Storm Yutu. Yutu continued to strengthen and became a typhoon on the afternoon of October

23rd.

Yutu continued to intensify and on the afternoon of the 24th it became a Super Typhoon. A Super Typhoon is a Joint Typhoon Warning Center's designation placed on a system if wind speeds in the typhoon equal or exceed 150 mph. At that time Yutu was less than 200 miles to the east of the Marianas.

The 20 mile wide eye of Super Typhoon Yutu crossed over Tinian between midnight and 0400 ChST

on October 25th. Saipan is not too far away from Tinian and the southern part of the island had the destructive eye wall pass over it. The highest wind gust recorded on Saipan was 90 knots (104 mph) at 24/1444Z. Weather instruments on Tinian and Saipan were either destroyed or damaged and this was most likely not the highest winds that occurred. Ground based storm assessment estimated maximum sustained winds were 170 mph with wind gust to 200 mph. A Saipan resident recorded a wind gust to 168 mph plus another anemometer had a peak wind of 133 mph. On Guam

Andersen AFB saw a gust to 50 knots (58 mph) at 24/1554Z and 24/1603Z. Over central Guam the National Weather Service Office observed a peak gust to 46 knots (53 mph) on 24/1624 ChST.

Only 2.66 inches of rain was observed at the Saipan airport, but most likely was well below what actually fell. A University of Guam professor on Saipan had set up a rain gage and recorded 10 inches of rainfall in San Vicente, about 3 miles northeast of the eye. There was an indirect death after the storm. A woman was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning in a building in Susupe from a portable generator. The Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas reported 121 injuries and recorded at least 1000 damaged or destroyed structures. The power plants on both Tinian and Saipan were heavily damaged.

Super Typhoon Yutu passed through the Marianas October 24th to 25th. Yutu was classified as the second most powerful storm to hit the U.S.A.