1922 Swatow Typhoon

Infobox Hurricane
Name=1922 Swatow Typhoon
Type=Typhoon
Year=1922
Basin=WPac
Formed=July 27, 1922
Dissipated=August 3, 1922
10-min winds=85
Pressure=932
Pressurepre=≤
Da

Fatalities=50,000–100,000+
Areas=Northern Philippines, China
Hurricane season=1922 Pacific typhoon season

The 1922 Swatow Typhoon was a devastating tropical cyclone that caused thousands of deaths in the Chinese city of Swatow (now Shantou, both 汕頭) in August 1922. These totals make it one of the deadliest known typhoons in history.

Meteorological history

A tropical depression located near the Caroline Islands was first spotted July 27. It moved slowly to the northwest, gradually intensifying. On July 31, it crossed northern Luzon, cite web|title=North Pacific Ocean|author=Willis E. Hurd|url=http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/mwr/050/mwr-050-08-0433.pdf|work=Monthly Weather Review|month=August|year=1922|accessdate=2007-05-02|pages=433-35] and entered the northernmost part of the South China Sea.cite web|url=http://www.ucm.es/info/tropical/image1/image162.gif|title=July-August 1922|publisher=Universidad Complutense Madrid|accessdate=2007-05-02] It then intensified more and made landfall on the Chinese coast near the city of Swatow late on August 2 or early on August 3. It quickly dissipated inland.

The minimum known central pressure of this typhoon is 27.53 inHg.cite web|title=The Swatow Typhoon of August, 1922|author=Rev José Coronas|url=http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/mwr/050/mwr-050-08-0435b.pdf|pages=435-6|work=Monthly Weather Review|month=August|year=1922|accessdate=2007-05-02] At one point, the winds were estimated to have a velocity of 100 mph.cite web|url=http://www.ucm.es/info/tropical/selga-ii.html|title=The Selga Chronology Part II: 1901-1934|publisher=Universidad Complutense Madrid|language=English|accessdate=2007-05-02]

Impact

Due to the typhoon passing through a lightly-inhabited part of the Philippines, no reports of significant impact were received.

In Swatow in China, the typhoon caused a storm surge of at least 12 ft above normal. The rain was heavy, and left enough water to leave the land saturated for a few days.cite web|title=The Swatow Typhoon of August, 1922|url=http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/mwr/050/mwr-050-08-0435a.pdf|page=435|work=Monthly Weather Review|month=August|year=1922|accessdate=2007-05-02 933] Swatow was an unfortunate city, as around 50,000 people (out of a population of about 65,000) perished in the storm. Some nearby villages were totally destroyed.cite web|url=http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/mwr/050/mwr-050-08-0437b.pdf|page=437|title=Notes on weather in the other parts of the world|work=Monthly Weather Review|accessdate=2007-06-14] Several ships near the coast were totally wrecked. Other ones were blown as far as two miles inland. The area around the city had around another 50,000 casualties. The total death toll was above 60,000,cite web|url=http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories/images/global.pdf|title=NOAA's Top Global Weather, Water and Climate Events of the 20th Century|publisher=NOAA|format=PDF|accessdate=2007-06-28] and may have been higher than 100,000.

The 60,000–100,000+ deaths caused by this typhoon make it one of the deadlist tropical cyclones in the western north Pacific Ocean. The other typhoons with comparable death totals include an unnamed typhoon that hit Haiphong in 1881,cite web|url=http://www.epicdisasters.com/tendeadlyworldhurricanes.php|title=The Ten Worst Hurricanes Worldwide| accessdate=2007-06-12] 1975's Typhoon Nina,cite web|url=http://www.epicdisasters.com/worstfloods.php |title= The World's Worst Floods |accessdate=2007-06-12] and another unnamed typhoon that hit somewhere in China in 1912.

References

External links

* [http://www.ucm.es/info/tropical/image1/image162.gifApproximate storm path]