2012 Western Pacific typhoon season
Typhoon Sanba 2012
Sanba intensified rapidly east of the Philippines before moving north toward Japan and Korea. It weakened well before landfall, but heavy rain damaged roads and farmland across its later route.
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178 mph
Sep 13, 2012 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
Rapid intensification on a northward track
Sanba developed on September 10 and became a typhoon two days later. Favorable conditions then supported rapid strengthening. The archive records peak sustained winds of 155 knots on September 13, equivalent to Category 5 strength on the one-minute wind scale.
The eye expanded as Sanba moved toward higher latitudes and gradually weakened. It passed west of Japan and reached South Korea on September 17. The circulation then lost its tropical structure, with remnants continuing toward Russia's Primorsky Krai region.
Rainfall damage in Japan and Korea
Sanba damaged agriculture, forestry and fishing in Okinawa Prefecture. Farther north in Japan, heavy rain washed out roads and flooded agricultural areas. South Korea also suffered flooded cropland and damaged infrastructure, with losses estimated at 365.7 billion won. In North Korea, the rainfall worsened flooding that had begun earlier in the season.
Further reading
QUICK ANSWERS
Sanba in brief
What was Typhoon Sanba's highest wind speed?
178 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Sep 13, 2012, 06:00 PM UTC.
What category was Typhoon Sanba?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Sep 13, 2012, 12:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Typhoon Sanba's lowest pressure?
907 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Sep 13, 2012, 06:00 PM UTC.
When did Typhoon Sanba occur?
The archived track runs from Sep 10, 2012, 12:00 AM UTC to Sep 18, 2012, 06:00 PM UTC, with the tropical stage from Sep 10, 2012, 12:00 AM UTC to Sep 17, 2012, 09:00 AM UTC.
Where did Typhoon Sanba form?
In the Western Pacific basin, in the 2012 season. Its first archived position is 8.6°N, 134.8°E on Sep 10, 2012, 12:00 AM UTC.
Did Typhoon Sanba make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 1 recorded position; the strongest is 75 mph on Sep 17, 2012, 03:00 AM 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