It formed during the peak of the busy 1959 Pacific typhoon season near Guam, and moved generally to the west-northwest.

Shortly thereafter, the typhoon struck the small Japanese island of Miyako-jima, where the barometric pressure fell to 908.1 mbar (26.82 inHg), the second-lowest on record for the country.

The damage prompted the Japan Meteorological Agency to give Sarah the special name of the "Miyakojima Typhoon".

When the hurricane hunters approached the system at 02:00 UTC on September 11, they observed a center with several small circulations about 130 km (81 mi) east of Guam.

On that basis, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center[nb 2] classified the system as Tropical Depression Sarah.

A hurricane hunters flight at 14:15 UTC on September 12 observed a 65 km (40 mi) eye diameter, prompting the JTWC to upgrade Sarah further to typhoon status, with maximum sustained winds of 120 km/h (75 mph).

[1][nb 3] After becoming a typhoon, Sarah quickly intensified; at 08:00 UTC on September 13, the hurricane hunters reported flight-level winds of 185 km/h (115 mph).

[1] The intensity was adjusted slightly downward in a post-analysis, with peak winds of 305 km/h (190 mph) at 06:00 UTC on September 15 about 415 km (258 mi) east of Taiwan.

[2] About three hours after Sarah reached peak winds, the typhoon moved directly over Miyako-jima, an island of Japan east of Taiwan.

The combination of high winds and rough seas destroyed a fishing pier and 670 m (2,200 ft) of seawall,[1] as well as several tidal weirs.

[1] The heavy damage on the island prompted the Japan Meteorological Agency to give Sarah the special name of the "Miyakojima Typhoon".

[10] Sarah was part of a series of typhoons striking the island in 1959, causing food shortages that forced the population to change their diet.

[1] The peak wind gust in South Korea was 169 km/h (105 mph), which was the highest for a typhoon at the time, with records dating back to 1904; as of 2010, the value has fallen to the ninth place.

[14] Due to the ongoing Korean War and Sarah, South Korea lost much of its fishing fleet, resulting in diminished catches over the subsequent decades.

The fleet failed to return after the passage of Typhoon Sarah, and local newspapers reported all 1,200 fishermen were lost.