Typhoon Joe, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Nitang, affected the Philippines, China, and Vietnam during July 1980. An area of disturbed weather formed near the Caroline Islands on July 14. Shower activity gradually became better organized, and two days later, the system was upgraded into a tropical depression. On July 18, the depression was classified as Tropical Storm Joe. Initially, Joe moved northwest, but began to turn to the west-northwest, anchored by a subtropical ridge to its north. Joe started to deepen at a faster clip, and attained typhoon intensity on July 19. The eye began to clear out, and the next day, Joe reached its highest intensity. Shortly thereafter, Joe moved ashore the Philippines. There, 31 people were killed and 300,000 others were directly affected. Around 5,000 homes were destroyed, resulting in an additional 29,000 homeless. Damage in the nation was estimated at $14.5 million (1980 USD).
The storm weakened rapidly over land, but re-intensified over the open waters of the South China Sea. Joe crossed the Leizhou Peninsula on July 22, where it became the strongest system to hit the peninsula in 26 years. A total of 188 people were killed in the area. Further north, in Hong Kong, two people were killed and 59 were injured. After weakening slightly, Joe made its final landfall in Vietnam while still at typhoon intensity. In Vietnam, 130 people were killed, 300,000 were directly affected, 165,000 lost their homes, 50,000 acres (20,000 ha) of rice paddies were flooded. In addition, 15,800 buildings were destroyed while 16,300 homes were flooded. Inland over Vietnam, Joe dissipated on July 24.
Meteorological history
An area of disturbed weather developed over the Caroline Islands on July 14. Tracking westward, convective activity gradually increased in both convection and coverage. At 18:00 UTC on July 22, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) started tracking the system. Less than four hours later, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA). On July 16, a Hurricane Hunter aircraft found a weak surface circulation and minimum sea level pressure of . Initially, the low- and mid-level circulations were not vertically stacked, with the low-level center exposed from the deep convection. By 00:00 UTC on July 17, the surface center and the deep convection moved closer together, prompting the JTWC to classify the system as Tropical Depression 09. Post-season analysis indicated that the depression had actually developed about 24 hours earlier than initially indicated. Meanwhile, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) also monitored the storm and assigned it with the local name Nitang.
Moving northwest in response to a shortwave trough an elongated area of lower air pressure aloft that was passing to its east, the newly developed depression passed approximately west-southwest of Guam. The depression began to develop at a quicker pace, and early on July 18, the JTWC upgraded it to a tropical storm. Six hours later, the JMA declared Joe a tropical storm. At this time, the tropical system was located roughly west of Guam. Joe then began to move on a constant and brisk westward course that it would maintain for the rest of its life in response to an unusually strong subtropical ridge that was east of its climatological position and to the north of the cyclone. After Joe developed a central dense overcast – a large mass of deep convection, the JMA upgraded Joe into a severe tropical storm. At midday, hints of an eye became apparent on satellite imagery, which led to the JTWC and JMA upgrading Joe into a typhoon. This intensity estimate was confirmed by a Hurricane hunter plane later on July 19, which measured a pressure of . An eye began to clear out on July 20. That same day, a Hurricane hunter aircraft recorded a pressure of . At midday, the JTWC estimated that Joe peaked in intensity, with winds of , equal to a Category 3 hurricane on the United States-based Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale (SSHWS). Meanwhile, the JMA estimated maximum intensity of .