Typhoon Elsie (1989)

Typhoon Elsie (Tasing)

Typhoon (JMA scale)
Category 5 (Saffir–Simpson scale)
Typhoon Elsie nearing peak intensity and landfall over the Philippines on October 18
Formed	October 13, 1989
Dissipated	October 22, 1989
Highest winds	10-minute sustained: 185 km/h (115 mph) 1-minute sustained: 260 km/h (160 mph)
Lowest pressure	915 hPa (mbar); 27.02 inHg
Fatalities	47 direct, 363 injured
Damage	$35.4 million (1989 USD)
Areas affected	Philippines, China and Vietnam
Part of the 1989 Pacific typhoon season

Typhoon Elsie, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Tasing, was one of the most intense known tropical cyclones to make landfall in the Philippines. A powerful Category 5 super typhoon, Elsie formed out of a tropical disturbance on October 13, 1989, and initially moved relatively slowly in an area of weak steering currents. On October 15, the storm underwent a period of rapid intensification, attaining an intensity that corresponds to a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. After taking a due west track towards the northern Philippines, the storm intensified further, becoming a Category 5 super typhoon hours before making landfall in Luzon. After moving inland, the typhoon rapidly weakened to a tropical storm. Once back over water in the South China Sea, wind shear prevented re-intensifcation. Elsie eventually made landfall in Vietnam on October 22 and dissipated the following day over Laos.

In the Philippines, Elsie worsened the situation already left in the wakes of typhoons Angela and Dan. Although it was stronger than the previous two, Elsie caused far less damage due to the relatively sparse population in the area of landfall. During the storm's passage, 47 people were killed and another 363 were injured. Damages throughout the country amounted to $35.4 million and roughly 332,000 people were left homeless.

Super Typhoon Elsie, the third typhoon to impact the Philippines within a 12-day span during 1989, originated from a Tropical Upper Tropospheric Trough (TUTT) over the western Pacific Ocean in mid-October. By October 13, a tropical disturbance developed out of the system roughly 1,240 kilometres (770 mi) east-northeast of Manila, Philippines. At this time, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) began to monitor the system as a tropical depression. Located between two other TUTT cells, the disturbance's outflow was enhanced, allowing it to intensify. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert late on October 13. Early the following day, the disturbance was designated as Tropical Depression 30W as it began to stall in an area of weak steering currents between two subtropical highs.