The season had no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1979, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between June and December.

These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.

The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean, north of the equator and west of the International Date Line.

Tropical storms formed in the entire west Pacific basin were assigned a name by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

Alice turned to the west, and continued to intensify with generally favorable conditions to a peak of 125 mph winds on the 8th.

Upper-level winds, combined with the dry air, weakened Alice for good, causing it to dissipate on the 14th after stalling for three days.

Slow intensification occurred for 18 hours,[1] before Bess reached its peak intensity of 105 mph (169 km/h) early on March 23.

[3] Typhoon Cecil stuck Leyte on April 15, causing 18 deaths, damage of $10 million and leaving 8,900 homeless.

TD 05 was not forecast to intensify significantly, but it merged with an extratropical frontal boundary near 22.N 124.8E and produced an improved satellite signature which included a banding-type eye.

[1] The storm passed close to the northern tip of Luzon on July 4 and caused damage to tobacco-rich regions of the Philippines.

Ellis then entered the South China Sea and weakened to a severe tropical storm while still moving west-northwest.

[6] Ellis made landfall on the Chinese coast on July 6 about 164 nautical miles southwest of Hong Kong and dissipated rapidly over land thereafter.

While 08W may not have been a major storm, it highlights the dynamic nature of the Western North Pacific basin, where tropical cyclones form and develop throughout the year.

On August 2, Typhoon Hope struck southern China, about 10 miles east of Hong Kong.

On the 17th, Irving hit southwest South Korea as a minimal typhoon, and merged with a frontal boundary over extreme eastern Russia on the 18th.

Judy turned to the northeast, and brushed past South Korea as a tropical depression on the 26th, shortly before dissipating.

However, the storm brought heavy rain to Korea as a tropical depression, killing 111 and causing more damage to an area hit by Irving just weeks before.

Due to Tropical Storm Nancy's development, Mac's track was influenced into the South China Sea.

Weak steering currents allowed Nancy to track across the southern portion of Hainan and do a cyclonic loop.

[1]The monsoon trough spawned a disturbance in the eastern Vietnamese Sea on September 30, which developed into Tropical Depression Sisang on October 1.

Sarah, with weak steering currents, drifted to the south, becoming a typhoon on October 7, before making landfall on Palawan Island.

The storm brought heavy flooding and wind, causing massive crop damage and loss of life.

Sarah then weakened to a low-pressure area on October 15, but its remnants turned eastward towards Manila, Philippines, before curving westward towards Vietnam again.

[1] Strong flow from the equator was drawn into Roger's circulation, preventing development to a disturbance to the east which would become Typhoon Tip.

[1] The cyclone formed on October 5, and after moving into a very favorable environment for development, quickly strengthened into Super Typhoon Tip on the 11th.

[1] The storm rapidly intensified, reaching its peak intensity as a super typhoon with 160 mph (260 km/h) winds on November 4.

[15] Reconnaissance aircraft indicated that Vera maintained its peak strength for 24 hours before weakening as it approached Catanduanes Island.

Shortly after making landfall, an enhanced low-level northeasterly flow over the Taiwan Strait coupled with strong upper-level southwesterlies over the Philippines resulted in the storm's weakening.

Typhoon Abby reached maximum intensity of 125 mph (201 km/h) with a minimum pressure of 951 mb on December 13.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration uses its own naming scheme for tropical cyclones in their area of responsibility.