1990 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Flo 1990
Typhoon Flo brought destructive wind and prolonged rain to much of Japan in September 1990. Its landfall on the Kii Peninsula followed a powerful offshore peak and a northeastward turn from the Philippine Sea.
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167 mph
Sep 17, 1990 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
An intense peak before the turn toward Japan
Flo developed from a disturbance near the Marshall Islands and organized gradually while moving west. After becoming a typhoon on 15 September, it intensified rapidly. The archive records peak one-minute winds of 145 kt on 17 September and a minimum pressure of 890 hPa.
Approaching troughs turned Flo northeast toward Honshu and increased wind shear, causing the storm to weaken. It passed east of Okinawa and reached southern Honshu on 19 September, then began losing its tropical structure.
Damage across much of Japan
Flo's rain affected Japan for three days, with damage reported in 44 of the country's 47 prefectures. Flooding and hundreds of landslides damaged homes, farmland and transport routes. The Amami Islands and Okayama Prefecture were among the hardest-hit areas.
Forty deaths and 131 injuries were reported. Canceled flights and disrupted railways stranded large numbers of travelers, including passengers on the Tokaido Shinkansen. Damage totaled 132 billion yen, equivalent to US$918 million in 1990 values.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Flo in brief
What was Typhoon Flo's highest wind speed?
167 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Sep 17, 1990, 06:00 AM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Flo?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Sep 17, 1990, 03:00 AM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Flo's lowest pressure?
890 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Sep 17, 1990, 12:00 AM UTC.
When did Typhoon Flo occur?
The archived track runs from Sep 8, 1990, 12:00 AM UTC to Sep 22, 1990, 06:00 AM UTC, with the tropical stage from Sep 12, 1990, 12:00 AM UTC to Sep 20, 1990, 03:00 AM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Flo form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 1990 season. Its first archived position is 5.5°N, 170.5°E on Sep 8, 1990, 12:00 AM UTC.
Did Typhoon Flo make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 1 recorded position; the strongest is 98 mph on Sep 19, 1990, 12:00 PM UTC. Positions are six-hourly, so this is not a landfall chronology.
METHODOLOGY
Data sources and limitations
The map and summary are generated from NOAA's IBTrACS v04r01 archive. Wind and category use US-agency records; minimum pressure is calculated during the tropical stage, with the archive's pressure source retained. Category 5 refers to the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale; local agencies may use different classifications. Coastlines use Natural Earth's 1:10m land data.
Track distance adds great-circle distances between consecutive observations, excluding gaps over 12 hours. This track has no gaps over 12 hours. The line shows the storm's center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Converted wind speeds are rounded to the nearest whole unit.
Archive retrieved
NOAA IBTrACS archive and Field documentation
Sources & methodology