[1][2][3] A depression formed in the Caroline Islands, moving northwest over the following days, the storm then rapidly enlarged, becoming a category-5 equivalent typhoon.

It remained relatively weak until around the September 21, but on the 22nd it strengthened rapidly, with a wind speed of 135 mph (217 km/h) recorded in the US.

[5] Tess finally crossed the Shima Peninsula and made landfall to Aichi Prefecture on the September 25,[1] then swerving at the last hour, barely missing Tokyo.

[5] Major flooding was spotted in the Mukojima Islands, Uji, Kumiyama, Kyoto, and other nearby areas.

[9] Americans also reported at the United States Air Force Base in Itami, experiencing strong winds and high floods.

[10] The Contra Costa Times called the storm was a "furious, drunken woman in the lobby of a hotel".

[21] The history of Japan's modern typhoon-induced coastal disaster prevention works began with Typhoon Tess and led to the enactment of the Coast Act in 1956.