Driven by a high pressure system and a trough, Billie then turned to the southwest and then westward and intensified into a typhoon on August 5.

On August 7, Typhoon Billie underwent rapid intensification, reaching a maximum intensity of 140 mph (125 knots).

However, the system's remnants persisted for another couple of days, as they moved deeper into China, before dissipating on August 14.

Billie skirted the Ryūkyū Islands before making landfall in Taiwan and again in eastern China, producing huge waves that drowned 41 fishermen and swimmers along the coast of Japan.

[2] Billie's second landfall was south of Taipei, Taiwan where a weather station reported 81 mph (130 km/h) winds.