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ON DEC. 18, 1944, Task Force 38 of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, commanded by Navy Adm. William Halsey, sailed directly into the teeth of Typhoon Cobra, a vicious Category 4 tropical cyclone with sustained winds of 140 mph.
At the time of the incident, Task Force 38 had been in the Philippine Sea conducting air raids on Japanese airfields in the Philippines in support of Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s ground forces. Unaware of the size, path, and intensity of the approaching tropical storm, the fleet was in the process of refueling its ships when the wind picked up and the sea started to churn.
What followed was one of the worst catastrophes in U.S. naval history. Three destroyers — USS Hull (DD-350), USS Spence (DD-512), and USS Monaghan (DD-354) — capsized and sank; a cruiser, five aircraft carriers, and three destroyers were seriously damaged; a total of 146 planes were lost or damaged beyond repair; and approximately 790 officers and men were lost or killed.
Halsey was caught by surprise because of inadequate forecast information regarding the location, direction, and intensity of the deadly storm. In the aftermath, he called for a consolidation of resources that would prevent such an event in the future. The result was the establishment of the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) in 1959.
“The Joint Typhoon Warning Center provides tropical cyclone support for the Department of Defense and U.S. government interests across the Pacific Command’s area of responsibility, which extends from the west coast of the Americas to the east coast of Africa,” says Navy Capt. Ashley D. Evans, commanding officer of the JTWC until early June. “We also provide tsunami support for the U.S. Navy and other DoD interests around the globe.”
The JTWC is jointly staffed by the Air Force and Navy. It was established at Nimitz Hill on Guam but later consolidated with the meteorological infrastructure on Pearl Harbor in 1999 as a base-realignment-and-closure function to maximize the efficiency of DoD weather support in the Pacific. There, says Evans, the newly designated JTWC/Naval Pacific Meteorology and Oceanography Command performed two missions: typhoon forecasting and maritime weather forecasting for all Pacific Navy assets.
During another force realignment in 2011, Navy maritime forecasting responsibility was transferred to San Diego, leaving the JTWC by itself at Pearl Harbor to provide typhoon forecasting and tsunami support.
According to Evans, JTWC was handed the tsunami mission responsibility because the need for tsunami early-warning capability was recognized and because 95 percent of tsunamis occur in the Pacific.
The JTWC employs 47 people — 32 servicemembers and 15 civilians. Of that number, 13 are Air Force personnel and 34 are Navy personnel, says Evans. The majority of the staff are meteorologists with advanced training and advanced degrees.