Forming as a tropical depression on September 3 to the southeast of Guam, Fran steadily intensified as it moved along a general northwest track.

Regarded as the worst typhoon in ten years, nearly a week of continuous rains caused disastrous flooding and landslides across Japan.

Traveling west, the system gradually developed and was classified as a tropical depression—the seventeenth of the season—at 12:00 UTC on September 3 by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC).

[3] Situated near a weakness in a subtropical ridge (located south of Japan), the incipient depression turned northwest and gained strength.

Aircraft reconnaissance found the system to have achieved tropical storm status by 03:39 UTC the next day, measuring a central pressure of 997 hPa (mbar; 29.44 inHg).

Intensification began in earnest on September 6 as a 55 km (34 mi) wide eye developed, signaling Fran's rise to typhoon status.

[1] During the latter part of September 6, the aforementioned hindering features quickly subsided, allowing for ample ventilation of the storm and enabled a period of explosive intensification.

[6] Though conditions remained highly favorable, Fran entered a near-steady state at this point with its pressure decreasingly slightly to its lowest observed value of 913 hPa (mbar; 26.96 inHg) at 21:09 UTC.

[4][6] The previously beneficial shortwave trough bypassed the typhoon on September 8 and allowed for increased wind shear from an anticyclone to the west to impact Fran.

For the next day, Fran moved erratically along the western edge of the Tokara Islands, southwest of Kyushu, all the while battering the region with torrential rain and damaging winds.

[7] After losing typhoon strength, Fran emerged over the Sea of Japan where cooler waters spurred its transition into an extratropical cyclone by 06:00 UTC on September 13.

[11] Officials stressed the nature of the evacuation as the movement of aircraft coincided with the end of a heightened alert period along the Korean DMZ following the death of two U.S. Army officers.

[12] The typhoon's slow movement led to tremendous rainfall accumulations across parts of southeastern Japan,[13] with some areas seeing continuous rain for six days.

[1][19] Offshore, the storms destructive winds and waves split the 52,157 ton oil tanker Ryoyo Maru in two over the Bungo Channel,[4] anchored near Beppu; all 62 crewmen were rescued safely.