Imagine a tropical cyclone (hurricane, typhoon) big enough to cover about half of the Lower 48 states.
Believe it or not, Super Typhoon Tip grew this large in the northwest Pacific Ocean to the south of Japan and to the east of the Philippines on Oct. 12, 1979.
As the image to the right illustrates, Tip was so large that it would cover almost the entire western United States from the Canadian border to the border with Mexico.
According to NOAA, the circulation pattern associated with Tip was about 1,380 miles wide. That's close to the driving distance on I-95 from New York City to the upper Florida Keys.
Tropical storm-force winds extended out up to 675 miles from the center of the super typhoon.
For perspective, tropical storm-force winds in 2012's huge Hurricane Sandy extended up to 520 miles from its center.
Tip also holds the official record for being the most intense tropical cyclone in history based on atmospheric pressure. A pressure of 870 millibars was measured and winds were estimated to be 190 mph
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