Typhoon Omar - Meteorological History

Meteorological History

After an active early part to August, the monsoon trough re-established itself to spawn an area of convection near the Marshall Islands on August 20. It tracked westward, and slowly organized into Tropical Depression 15W four days later. Another monsoon depression to 15W's west caused some vertical shear due to its large outflow, but it still managed to become Tropical Storm Omar on the night of August 24.

The other monsoon depression, which became Tropical Storm Polly, moved far enough to the west to allow Omar to slowly strengthen. Had the shear from Polly continued, Omar might not have made it past tropical storm strength, but it held together and became a typhoon on August 27. As the cyclone neared Guam, Omar quickly intensified, and reached winds of 115 mph. On the afternoon of August 28, the typhoon crossed Guam, and continued to the west-northwest. On the following evening, the storm reached a peak intensity of 150 mph, making it the 2nd super typhoon of the season.

Shortly after its peak, Typhoon Omar slowly weakened, becoming a minimal typhoon on September 2. It turned to the west, and hit eastern Taiwan on September 4 as a 50 mph tropical storm. Omar crossed the island and the Taiwan Strait, and struck eastern China on the 5th as a 45 mph tropical storm. The system quickly weakened over land, and dissipated on September 6.