Pagan as Ben passed nearby. Ben turned north-northwest for a day and a half, moving around an upper level cyclone in its vicinity, before resuming a west-northwest track on September 20. Vertical wind shear, caused by strong north-northeast winds aloft, weakened Ben to minimal tropical storm intensity by September 21. Ben entered a more favourable environment, achieving typhoon intensity on September 23 before rounding the southwest portion of the subtropical ridge. Ben recurved to the northeast on September 26, moving well to the east of Japan, as vertical wind shear increased due to strengthening winds aloft from the southwest. Ben subsequently weakened back into a tropical storm on September 30 before transitioning into an extratropical cyclone later that day. Typhoon Carmen The initial tropical disturbance was first noted to the east-southeast of Majuro on September 27. The system tracked north of due west, before consolidating slowly into a tropical depression on September 30 and a tropical storm on October 2. After passing between Rota and Saipan, Carmen turned northwest and intensified into a typhoon on October 4. Winds at Rota peaked at as it passed by the island. Heavy rains fell at Guam, where amounts totalled between . Moving through a break in the subtropical ridge, Carmen rapidly strengthened as it turned north, then northeast, on October 6 when maximum sustained winds reached . As vertical wind shear increased due to strengthening southwest winds aloft, the cyclone weakened into a tropical storm on October 8, evolving into an extratropical cyclone by October 9. Tropical Storm Dom (Oyang) Initially noted as a tropical disturbance in the Philippine Sea on October 2, the system moved slowly west-northwest to the south of the subtropical ridge, becoming a tropical depression on October 4. Crossing the Philippines, the depression caused heavy rainfall and flooding as it emerged into the South China Sea and developed into a tropical storm on October 9. Development was slow due to strong upper-level winds from the northeast displacing thunderstorms west-southwest of its center. Continuing to track north of due west, Dom made landfall in Vietnam and dissipated as it moved along the Laos/Vietnam border on October 12. A total of 16 perished and damage totalled US$4 million (1986 dollars) in Luzon. Typhoon Ellen (Pasing) The initial tropical disturbance formed just west of the International Date Line within the monsoon trough on October 3. The system moved westward for nearly a